Propagation of Peach Trees 49 



undeveloped." These earlier introductions need not be 

 further considered as they apparently have no relation to 

 the use of the species for stocks. 



This peach {Prunus Davidiana) is an excellent stock 

 to bud, as it "works" very easily and is not especially sensi- 

 tive to climatic changes during the summer; that is, the 

 bark does not set during ordinary periods of drought; it 

 is a strong grower in some sections and trees propagated on 

 it make a vigorous growth when young, though it appears 

 to have a slight dwarfing effect on the ultimate size of the 

 tree. Moreover, it occurs in China where it seems to be 

 in a high degree resistant to drought and alkali. 



Sufficient time has not yet elapsed since this species 

 was first used in this country as a stock to determine whether 

 the trees will develop weaknesses with age that are trace- 

 able to the stock, nor has its range of adaptability yet been 

 determined. There are other problems connected with its 

 use, but thus far favorable as well as unfavorable results 

 have been widely reported. The unfavorable results have 

 been due evidently to the stock not being adapted to the 

 conditions where grown. This emphasizes the necessity 

 of carefully determining its range before it is used com- 

 mercially. 



The Sand cherry of the West (Prunus Besseyi) has been 

 used in a very small way as a dwarfing stock, but its real 

 value and practicability as such are not yet determined. 



The use of peach seedlings in propagating peaches so 

 largely predominates that the handling of them alone will 

 be given consideration in the further discussion of peach 

 propagation. 



Peach pits, or seeds, for use in growing stocks are obtained 

 mainly in two ways : from canning factories and from " nat- 



