Gayle Wood: age 13, of Sioux Iowa,

Why do they graft trees?

We cannot graft a new leg onto a dog or cat. But trees are plants and the rules of the plant world often are different from the rules of the animal world. We can graft a new limb or a whole new trunk onto a young tree. The old root system will nourish the grafted shoot and help it grow. The grafted shoot, however, will be like the tree from which it was taken, It will not be like the old tree Which gave it roots.

A wild apple tree is often tougher than the orchard tree which gives big juicy fruit, So we graft a cutting from the orchard tree on the stub of a tougher tree. The old roots and the grafting will grow together as one tree. It will be fed by the tough roots of the old tree, Its branches will give juicy apples Jus4‑ like those growing on the orchard tree from which we took the cutting,