154 



The Journal of Heredity 



'^/r^M r^. 



r.'gA f^-im 











AN UNUSUALLY FAVOKABLE GRAFT 



TliL' uniciii of peach with almond is exceedingly strong. In the ease of this 42-year-old tree, 

 it is still absolutely sound. Both the stock or root parent, and the cion or top parent, 

 seem to have been stimulated to unusual growth, and this evidently caused an increased 

 flow of sap, wliieli may l)e responsi])le for the sj)lendid condition of the tree. (Fig. 3.) 



is the early bearing tendency of dwarfed 

 trees. Orehardists everywhere recog- 

 nize this factor and utilize it in a prac- 

 tical way. Pears on quince stock frtiit 

 in three or four years while the standard 

 stock requires from five to eight. 

 Apples on paradise stock will fruit in 

 three years while the same variety on 

 French crab will require from five to 

 eight years. In almost every ca.se this 

 early bearing habit is associated with 

 the dwarfing condition and the two 

 seem to bear a fairly jjcrmanent correla- 

 tion. Also in this same connection it is 

 well to note that dwarfed trees are 

 shorter li\-ed than their full statured 

 relatives. This is well illustrated in 

 Figure 4 where the almond was grafted 

 on plum stock. 



Various other known conditions are 

 attributed to this reci])roeal influence of 

 grafts, for exam])le, the delay in the 

 l)looming period of certain fruits when 

 united with slow growing stocks. Five 

 years ago in one of the sub-stations of 

 the University of California was begun 

 an ex])c;riment with almonds to pro\'e 

 this point. It so hai)])ens that the al- 

 mond is the earliest blooming deciduous 

 fruit on the Pacific Coast, l)lossoms 

 appearing from live to eight days 

 ahead of the jjcach and from 10 to 14 

 days prior to most plums. Desirable 

 tyi)es of almonds were grafted on lx)th 

 peach and ])lum stock and their in- 

 fltiencv on the restilting bloom noticed. 

 Peaehi-s prodticcd little or no noticeable 

 elTeet while tlie plum slock relanU'd the 



