The Secretary: It should consist of purified and bleached beeswax only. It is more expensive than the ordinary beeswax.
[Read by title.]
UNUSUAL METHODS OF PROPAGATING NUT TREES
Dr. Robert T. Morris, New York City
With the exception of the chestnut and the almond, much difficulty has been experienced in propagating most of the nut trees of temperate latitudes by budding or by grafting. This appears to be largely due to the slow formation of callus which is to make new cell connection between the cambium layers of host and of guest. In southern regions of the United States the union occurs much more readily than in the north. My experiments have been made chiefly with reference to developing methods of propagating nut trees in the north. All of the usual methods common among nurserymen have been practically failures, but certain unusual methods seem to promise success.
One unusual method which was suggested at last year's meeting by our member Mr. J. F. Jones, has given a good proportion of catches. This consists in using wood which is more than one year old for scions. Some of the scions of shagbark hickory from wood four, five, and even six years of age have caught. The chief difficulty has consisted in starting the buds of this old wood (latent buds) before vigorous sprouts from the stock diverted all the sap. It has been necessary to give much attention to the removal of these vigorous stock sprouts. I seem to have made the observation that if a small side branch from old wood carries a large terminal bud, this bud will start promptly when old wood constitutes the rest of the scion.
A method which I employed for the first time this year, which appears to have resulted in securing union between stock and scion, has been employed between different species of hickory trees. It belongs among the inarching methods in classification. It seemed probable that if a scion were to be supplied with sufficient water to prevent drying out, in advance of granulation-cell connection, we might meet with success.
The first line of experimentation with this idea in mind was conducted last year. The scion when grafted upon the stock was deprived of its top bud, and a small test tube filled with water and fitted with a rubber cap was adjusted over the site previously occupied by the top bud. This in practical working really did keep the cells of the scion alive and in good condition for a long time, but there was always a tendency for the water to become impure because of the growth of various algae and other microbes. Evidently the water when used in this way helped to furnish a balance between the negative and the positive sap pressures which occur under changing conditions of barometer and temperature, and which are influential in the matter of cellular repair. The introduction of germicides into the water of the test tube prevented the development of adventitious organic life, but at the same time seemed to interfere with normal cell activity at the junction of stock and scion.
