TREES FROM SEEDS AND CUTTINGS 67 



It is easy enough to grow peach, almond, apricot, and Myrobalan 

 seedlings, but small seeds, like apples and pears, often do not show 

 up well in the spring, especially if the soil is of a kind that crusts 

 over with rain and sunshine. Purchased seedlings are planted in 

 nursery rows in the winter, as has already been described, and 

 budded in the following summer, grafting the next spring where the 

 buds fail. If the seedlings are large they are often root-grafted at 

 once, and then one summer in the nursery gives a tree suitable for 

 planting out. 



Fruit Trees from Cuttings. It is feasible to grow a number o 

 kinds of fruit trees from cuttings, but it is not desirable in many 

 cases to do it. Trees grown from a graft or bud in a seedling root 

 are much better. The root system of a seedling is naturally stronger 

 and more symmetrical. The roots from a cutting start out at the 

 bottom and spread out horizontally and irregularly. This style of 

 a root system is expressively named "duck-foot roots," and they 

 do not give the tree a deep, strong hold on the soil. Trees can, how- 

 ever, be multiplied very fast from cuttings. Notable instances of 

 this are the Myrobalan plum and the Leconte pear. Cuttings of 

 deciduous trees should be taken from well-matured wood of the 

 previous season's growth, and planted in rows and in well-prepared 

 soil, as has already been described for the sowing of fruit tree seeds. 

 The cuttings should be taken before the sap begins running in the 

 winter. A cutting about ten inches long, four-fifths of its length 

 buried in the ground, will answer. Be sure that the ground is firmed 

 well at the base of the cutting, but keep the surface loose. Small 

 wood is better than large, though, of course, the extreme ends of 

 twigs should be rejected usually. Cultivation of cuttings is the same 

 as that of seedlings, and budding, when the cuttings are to be used 

 as stocks, is also governed by the same rules. 



The orange and lemon can be grown from cuttings, but the work 

 is done during the summer while the ground is warm. Cut from 

 wood one or two years old ; set in the open ground with partial shade 

 and give plenty of water, but be sure that there is free escape for 

 surplus water. Cuttings started in the warm weather and given 

 partial shade and plenty of irrigation are very apt to succeed. This 

 method of growing these fruits is not, however, in wide use or favor. 



The propagation of the grape, olive and fig from cuttings will be 

 considered in the chapters on those fruits. 



Planting Out in Nursery. For planting out in nursery, the term 

 "spring" is given as the proper time, but in California it must be 

 remembered that spring is not any definite division of the year. 

 "Spring weather" comes from the first of February to the first of 

 May, according to the latitude or elevation or exposure resulting 

 from local topography. Cherries may be ripe in Vaca Valley before 

 fruit trees put out leaves in Modoc county; and between these ex- 

 tremes there are advents of spring in other places according to the 

 situation. These facts are more fully set forth in the chapter on 

 climate. Spring must be detected in the behavior of vegetation and 

 not by the calendar. When the tree buds swell and the leaves ap- 



