Grafting of Roses

Since Jewish law seems to prohibit all mixture of spe cies of animals and of plants, is the grafting of roses in order to produce varieties permitted at all? Originally, Dutch and French rose breeders planted seeds of dif ferent species in the same field, and the resulting seeds (evidently by spontaneous crossing) produced new va rieties. The modem method is a conscious, artificial crossing of different kinds of roses (presumably by mixture of pollen, as with hybrid corn). A third method is the grafting of the tender twig of a garden rose on the tough stock of wild roses. Are any, or all, of these methods permitted, or forbidden, by Jewish law? (From M. S.)

There are two Biblical sources for the laws as they developed on this matter. The first is Leviticus 19 : 19: “You shall not mix cattle breeds; you shall not sow your field with mixed seeds.” The other verse is Deuteronomy 22 : 9: “You shall not sow your vineyard in mixed seeds.”

The commentators generally despair of giving a reason for this prohibition. Rashi merely says that it is a decree of the King that we have to obey. But Nachmanides says that the reason for the prohibition is that God has made the species and that if we start trying to make new species, we are implying that God’s work at the Creation was not perfect (see Nachmanides to Leviticus 19 : 19).

There is, of course, a complete tractate of the Mishnah entitled “Kelaim” (Mixed Seeds), and there is a Gemara in the Palestinian Talmud on it, but in the Babylonian Talmud there are only a few chance references. This was due to the fact that many of the laws involved in the processes of agriculture, such as stoppage of agriculture on the Sabbatical year, tithes, and so forth, apply only in Palestine; this is also the case with some of the laws on mixed seeds. Of the later legalists, the chief sources are Maimonides in his “Laws of Kelaim,” and the Shulchan Aruch itself in Yore Deah 295 ff.

Now as to the applications of the law to the grafting of roses: Owing to the fact that the verse in Leviticus speaks of seeds in the field and the verse in Deuteronomy speaks of the vineyard, the laws are divided into two sections, one on the planting of vegetables (i.e., “seeds”), and so forth, and the other on the planting of vineyards and trees. There are laws applying to the planting of mixed varieties of vegetables which do not apply to trees and the grafting of trees.

The question, therefore, that must be decided here is whether a rose bush belongs to one class or the other. Is it akin, let us say, to a potato vine or even a wheat plant? Or is it to be classed with the trees? If it is counted among the plants and not the trees, then the problem is simple. The prohibition of mixing such plants as wheat and turnips, and so on, applies only in Palestine and is not prohibited outside of Palestine. Thus, Maimonides, in Yad, “Kelaim” I : 1, says that vegetable mixtures are forbidden in Palestine only, and (I : 3) that a Jew may sow mixed seeds outside of Palestine.

If, however, the rose bush is a tree (or akin to a tree) then the prohibition of grafting trees applies outside of Palestine too. But even if it is a tree, the first method mentioned in the question, namely, sowing the seeds together in the field, is entirely permitted, because the prohibition against sowing seeds together applies only to vegetables, not to trees (see Yore Deah 292 : 3).

Let us continue on the presumption that the rose bush is a species of tree, for otherwise it is a species of vegetable plant and the prohibition applies only in Palestine. Maimonides states that the law against “mixing” applies only to the prohibition of mixing plants that result in edible food, but in bitter, inedible plants, or even medicinal plants, the mixture is not prohibited. So, too, the Shulchan Aruch (in Yore Deah 297 : 3) says that only such vegetables as are meant for human food are forbidden to be mixed, but there is no prohibition in mixing those bitter herbs and roots that are of use only for medicine. Since the rose is certainly not raised for food, such mixtures are permitted (see Yad, I : 4).

Furthermore, in all the prohibited mixing, whether with regard to vegetables, which is forbidden only in Palestine, or with trees, whose grafting is forbidden also outside of Palestine, the mixture is forbidden only if the plants are definitely of different species. Therefore, the Mishnah in Kelaim says in the very first Mishnah that wheat and rye grass may be mixed, and barley and oats may be mixed, because they are not different species. Maimonides says in Yad, “Kelaim” III: 5 and 6—after mentioning various plants that are so similar that mixing them is not forbidden, for example, turnips and radishes—that in general if plants or trees have similar leaves and are not widely different, it is not forbidden to mix them. With regard to the rose bushes, surely all the grafting is done between varieties of roses, and the leaves, et cetera, are much alike. There is not enough difference for the admixture to be declared a crossing of species. In other words, while the law does not use our modern terminology, it seems to say that the crossing of species is forbidden, but not the crossing of varieties of the same species.

An interesting sidelight on the question of tree grafting is stated in the long controversy, still going on, as to the ethrog used in the Succah ceremonial. The ethrogim, especially those raised in Corfu, which are in many cases preferred by many Chasidim to those raised in Palestine, are customarily produced by grafting the tender twig of the ethrog plant on the sturdier wood of the lemon tree. Only Mordecai Jaffe, in the “Levushim,” prohibited it on that ground, but Ephraim Margolis, in responsum 56 of his “Bes Ephraim,” refutes this rather solitary prohibition. He speaks of the fact that Gentiles are not prohibited to graft trees and then adds (on p. 48, column 1) that as to the ethrog (which grows grafted onto the lemon tree) if it remains in taste and appearance like an ethrog (and not like a lemon) and there are only variations in color and so on, then there is no objection. It is still an ethrog.

So it is with the roses. They change only in “variety.” The admixtures are of the same species; they are not different enough to be called a mixture of species. Finally, if they are akin, not to trees, but to grasses and vegetables, then the prohibition against mixing them applies only to Palestine and not to the rest of the world.