WORKING-OVER OLD PEACH TREES 243 



ductive, or, for other reason, less desirable than others. There is, 

 therefore, often occasion for working over trees. Budding if often 

 resorted to, buds being successfully set in quite old wood, providing 

 buds from well-matured wood are taken. Wood buds from young 

 trees unaccompanied by fruit are best, but because of greater certainty 

 of securing the variety desired, it is common to take wood and fruit 

 buds together from bearing trees. A larger cut of bud and adjacent 

 bark is taken when working in old bark than for use on seedlings. 

 When a branch is budded, it is sometimes broken at a distance beyond 

 the bud and allowed to hang, the idea being to furnish the bud some 

 but not too much sap. Some growers thus bud and break part of the 

 branches, allowing others to remain unworked, to maintain the growing 

 processes of the tree. These branches and those in which buds have 

 not taken, are cut off and grafter the following spring. The almond 

 is successfully grafted over with the peach, and this course has been 

 followed with thousands of unproductive almonds. 



Grafting the Peach. Grafting the peach by the ordinary top- 

 grafting with a cleft graft seldom succeeds. A side graft with 

 saw and knife is better. It is described by J. W. Mills, formerly of 

 the University Branch Experiment Stations, in southern California, as 

 follows : 



Saw grafting is rapidly taking the place of cleft grafting, for it does away 

 with all difficulties arising from splitting, and there is no cavity left in the heart 

 of the limb or tree. The process is to saw off the limb at the desired place as in 

 cleft grafting, then saw across the corner and down the side at an angle of about 

 45 degrees and trim out with a sharp knife. Place the knife blade a little to 

 one side of the saw cut, a little farther from the edge at the top than at the 

 bottom, and by pressing on the knife the whole sides of the crevice will be 

 trimmed smoothly at one stroke; this operation repeated on the other side of 

 the saw cut will make a neat notch in the end of a solid limb. By cutting a 

 little deeper from the saw cut at the top than at the bottom, and if the amateur 

 does not trim his scion at the right angle, he can insert it gently in the crevice or 

 notch and see just where to trim. If he is so slow that the fresh cut shows 

 signs of discoloration, he can make a fresh surface by placing his knife parallel 

 to the edges and shaving off a thin slice. He still retains the same angle, but the 

 scion will set a little deeper, which is no objection. By cutting a thin layer off 

 the top of the stump next to the notch will show exactly where the inside layer 

 of bark is. The inside of the scion must be even with the inside layer of the 

 bark of the stump or limb that is being grafted. If the scion is inclined slightly 

 out or in at the top, it will make a correct union at some point and be sure to 

 grow. If the inclination is very slight the union will extend over considerable 

 length, and will make a much better start than if the union is at only one point, 

 owing to the enlarged surface through which the sap is transmitted. One of 

 the most important points in grafting is to have good wax and go over the grafts 

 a few days after they are put in and rewax them. 



DISEASES OF THE PEACH 



Curl-Leaf. The most prevalent trouble with the peach tree in 

 California is the curl-leaf. It was noticed from the first planting of 

 peach trees by Americans, nearly sixty years ago, and free conjecture 

 as to its cause was indulged in until it was shown to be a specific fungus, 



