DISEASES OF THE PEACH 249 



fully grafted over the peach, and this course has been followed with 

 thousands of unproductive almonds. 



Peach and almond trees are also worked over by beheading the 

 trees at the close of the dormant season and budding into the new 

 shoots late in the summer allowing the buds to remain dormant 

 until the following spring, when the buds are started by cutting 

 back to them as in the case of budded seedlings. As this wastes a 

 year, budding in old bark for immediate growth is usually pre- 

 ferred. 



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, an experienced 

 peach grower of Yuba County, 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 discol- 

 oration, he can make a fresh surface by placing the 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 the 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 en- 

 larged 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 



4 



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 con- 

 jecture as to its cause was indulged in until it was shown to be a 

 specific fungus, and its prevention by washes of fungicidal charac- 

 ter demonstrated. The treatment will be described in the chapter 

 on tree diseases. The facts of its occurrence may be stated as fol- 

 lows: 



Curl-leaf is much more prevalent in some sections than others, 

 and in one place than another in the same section, and some sections 

 are practically free from it. Some varieties are much more subject 

 to curl-leaf than others ; genarrly speaking, some curl nearly every- 



