Deming a shipment
of about twenty varieties of hickory scions. While I was preparing this
material for grafting, I noticed that each variety could be readily
distinguished by its appearance in general and, specifically, by
differences in its leaf scars. I also noticed markings on the bark,
particularly the stomata, which differed with each variety. Color and
stripes added further differentiation. Although I also found variations
in the size and shape of the buds, I later discovered that these do not
always remain constant within a variety, but depend somewhat on each
season's growth. For instance, a second growth sometimes develops during
a favorable season with a large number of lateral buds growing out of it
like spines.
It seemed to me that if scions could be maintained in an approximately
fresh state, they would furnish a key by which any variety of graft
could be determined as easily as it could by its nuts. I therefore set
myself to preserve scionwood in its fresh state. First, I cut five-inch
pieces of plump, healthy wood, each piece having a terminal bud. I
placed these buds downward in large test tubes which I then filled with
pure, strained honey. Such models did very well for a time, but after
about a year, the honey crystallized and of course the scions were no
longer visible.
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