nloosening of its holding apparatus.

In hickory grafting, much experimental work remains to be done in the
choice of stocks for grafts of different species. Almost all of the
hickories that have been grafted upon the pecan hickory stock, seem to
do pretty well upon that stock, but the converse is not true. The pecan
apparently does not do well as a rule when grafted upon other hickory
stocks, even upon those of its cousins in the open-bud group. The
shagbark hickory, in my experience, has done best upon stocks of the
shagbark or mockernut or pignut. A number of years, however, are
required in some cases for determining that point. Shagbarks which I
have grafted upon bitternuts have sometimes made a remarkably good
start. Then at the end of three or four years they begin to slow up,
while shagbarks on shagbark stock, starting slowly at first, surpassed
the ones on bitternut stock finally.

In the spring of 1919, I topworked two trees standing near together and
of about the same size (thirty feet) with Beaver hybrid (a cross between
the bitternut and the shagbark). One of the trees was a bitternut and
the other a pignut. Almost everyone of the grafts of the Beaver grew
thriftily on the bitternut. Those on the pignut stock practically all
caught and made short growth and then began to wilt back. Finally, only
one shoot remained alive. This very striking object lesson will have
bearing in varying degrees in all of our hickory grafting. According to
my experience to date, hybrid hickories are grafted more readily than
are straight species or varieties. They seem to have lost family pride
and seem to take up with any friend offering economic support. In the
case just quoted, however, caprice was shown by the Beaver hybrid which
took eagerly to a host of the species of one of its parents. It refused
to thrive on the pignut which did not represent either one of its
parents although that same pignut stock would have been accepted by
shagbark scions--the shagbark representing the other parent of the
Beaver. This sort of experience throws open the entire subject in such a
large way as to show what possibilities of success and failure lie
before us in experimental work. The same method of grafting, the
paraffin windlass method, was employed for these two trees which were
neighbors.

Interesting experimental work is to be done in finding the extent to
which different species and varieties of hickories may be grown out of
their i