ey are not
varieties, only seedlings grown from certain seed trees.
Now, with the Japanese, on the other hand, the situation is different,
because they propagated by budding and by grafting. I got a number of
the Japanese publications of propagation methods and their stocks, and
so forth, translated into English, and their problems are just the same
as we are going through right here now. They propagate true varieties by
asexual methods, but the Chinese do not to any extent at all.
Dr. Cross: Have the Russians got any?
A Member: That's the question I ask. Do we have any seed trees in this
country that are better than other seed trees?
Mr. Porter: Could the gentleman tell us whether the Chinese graft _any_
chestnuts.
Dr. Crane: Yes, they do so, I was told.
Mr. Porter: Well, the industry spends a lot of money, so do other
people, and so on, in a proper way to investigate that. Why don't you
find out where in that country they have been doing it?
Dr. Crane: I didn't see any grafted chestnut trees over there.
A Member: You said they grafted, and then you say, "I didn't see any."
Dr. Crane: That's quite right, and I talked to their best horticultural
authorities that they have. Practically all of it is produced by seed
and not by budding or grafting. It is just exactly as I said with the
Persian walnut. China has no varieties of Persian walnuts, although
sometimes you will find some farmer that will bud or graft his trees.
Mr. Porter: They graft up on the limb?
Dr. Crane: Yes, sir. Once in a while you will find one. They have a few
real horticulturists. I met one man over there that would compare very
favorably with Liberty Hyde Bailey.
Mr. Stoke: Dr. MacDaniels asked for concrete evidence. He wanted to know
where there was an orchard with 20-year-old grafted Chinese chestnut
trees. They haven't been planted that long, but I would like to give him
concrete evidence in my own experience.
In 1932 I got scions from the Department, got what ultimately became
known as the Hobson, from Jasper, Georgia. I grafted a tree in my front
yard which is still bearing nicely, and in fact I have got two grafts on
that tree about four feet from the ground, and it is very nice with
perfect union. At the same time I grafted a Carr right at the side of my
house that also has a perfect union about the same height from the
ground. I grafted a scion sent me by Dr. Morris as Morris' best (which
was pretty poor), and it is
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