Liz Kauffman, age 11, of Shaker Heights, Ohio, for her question:

What is grafting?

The fabulous Green Revolution tempts us to grow plants to admire and plants to eat. Success leads us to try for more elaborate successes. Any amateur can coax radish seeds to grow radishes. But certain grapes and other fruits have no seeds. Then we hear about various methods of vegetative propagation    growing plants without seeds. We learn that seedless grapes grow on grafted vines. And also that orchard fruits grow on grafted trees. Grafting is rather tricky, but there are several different methods to try.

The nutty seed inside a peach may sprout, but the fruits on the seedling tree revert back to their scrawny ancestors. However, an ancestral type tree may have a sturdy root system. Its young trunk may be cut down and grafted with a cutting from a modern orchard relative. In some mysterious way, the pieces grow together. The tree inherits the sturdy root stock, plus branches that bear fruit like the modern orchard tree. To grow seedless grapes, a dependable vine is selected to contribute the root stock. A grafted cutting from a seedless grape vine contributes more seedless grapes.