Archimedes Plutonium wrote in message ...
Sat, 12 Jun 2004 18:16:29 GMT Christopher Green wrote:



The answer is a merely practical one: grafting is done when either:

* This is a good means of propagating a desirable plant; for example,
if the plant does not tend to root from cuttings or layerings.

* The rootstock has desirable qualities that the plant, rooted on its
own, would not have. These may include resistance to disease or pests
(as in grapes) or growth regulation (as in dwarf fruit trees).

--
Chris Green

I do not know what layering is. I know cuttings. Can you describe layering..

Get a book on plant propagation. It will be well described there.

Layering is an alternative to making cuttings that preserves some of
the connection to the parent plant; the layered tip is less stressed
than a cutting would be. Many plants that are difficult from cuttings
are easier from layerings.


Off topic. I now like my bush cherries prunus tomentosa. But for the past 2 years have been unable
to get a single seedling. I wonder if they require going through the gut of a bird?

I wonder why any plant would evolve to the point where they depended on the gut of a bird rather
than viability without the gut. This gut dependency strikes me as a flaw in the theory of Darwin
Evolution. A plant seed has the greatest survivability if it had no bird gut dependency so that if
the bird ate the seed or did not eat the seed would be viable in either case.

No, it may have a much greater viability with a "bird gut dependency".
Seeds that require a pass through a digestive tract, or a fire, or a
freeze and thaw are generally also well protected and will survive
harsh conditions in dormancy. They will receive better dispersal or
germinate under better conditions, and so will end up with a greater
yield.

--
Chris Green