CHAPTER IV 

 PROPAGATION OF PEACH TREES 



The growing of nursery stock is a business quite distinct 

 from that of orcharding. While some nurserymen grow fruit 

 and some orchardists also produce nursery stock, the average 

 fruit-grower will usually find it to his advantage to purchase 

 his trees from one who is a specialist in the art of growing 

 them rather than to propagate his owti. He will usually 

 obtain better trees thereby, and in the end probably they will 

 cost less. However, the fruit-grower ought to have a gen- 

 eral knowledge of nursery methods and practice, even though 

 he may not want to use that knowledge in the actual produc- 

 tion of trees. He will be the better able to handle his trees 

 if he knows how they are propagated. Moreover, it will 

 enable him to judge better the grades and standards of the 

 nursery stock with which he has to deal. 



The methods by which peach trees are usually propa- 

 gated are simple, yet they involve many details requiring 

 careful attention. The disregard of any one of them may 

 prove extremely costly in the results. Propagation is almost 

 universally by budding on seedling stocks, the ordinary 

 ''T" or shield-bud method being used. The various steps 

 in the operation from the growing of the stocks on which 

 the buds are placed until the trees are ready for delivery 

 is concisely described in the following paragraphs. 



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