112 



77/7? FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE. 



Nectarines and peaches succeed only on seedling roots where the climate favours 

 diose fruits and the soil is a light, mellow, well-drained loam, the trees in other soils 

 having a tendency to chlorosis or " yellows," caused by a lack of suitable nourishment 

 in the growing season, as trees on the almond stock fall a prey to chlorosis in the dry, 

 hot provinces of France. The almond, as a stock for the nectarine and peach, is best 

 suited by light soils. Trees might succeed on it in the south of England in dry, 

 gravelly or chalky soils where those on plum stocks fail, but when it is desired to grow 

 the nectarine and peach in moist, heavy soil, plum stocks are the most eligible, and the 

 St. Julien variety is the most useful. 



Plum trees very often cause disappointment by producing clusters of suckers ; to 

 obviate that, seedling stocks, instead of those from suckers or layers, are advised. As a 

 general stock the St. Julien, White Pear, and Mussel plums are largely employed, the 

 latter suiting best for standards. Damson or Bullace stocks are not trustworthy. The 

 Myrobalan plum is recommended by some to prevent suckering, but it has not been 

 sufficiently tested in this country to warrant our advising it as a stock other than for 

 trial. Seedling Myrobalan stocks grow with the scion ; those from cuttings have a 

 dwarfing tendency. It seems to thrive in low, moist soils and stiff uplands; it also 

 succeeds in light poor ground, and may therefore prove useful. 



Stones or pips of the various kinds named may be sown as soon as ripe, or after 

 storing in damp, not wet, sand until early spring, keeping them from frost. "When the 

 stones begin to split, sow them 1 to 1 \ inch apart in drills 9 to 1 2 inches asunder. 

 Cherry and small stones generally may be covered 1 to 1| inch, and larger stones, 

 such as plums, 2 inches deep, the soil used being light and fine. Seedling plums thus 

 raised will be fit to transplant into nursery lines in the autumn. At that time the 

 unripe fruit of the leading and side shoots should be cut off, and the tap-root 

 shortened to 6 inches. Cherries are not usually ready to transplant until the end of 

 the second year. The transplanted stocks remain in the lines until they acquire 

 sufficient strength for budding or grafting. 



Apple and pear stocks are divided into two classes viz., free stocks and dwarfing 

 stocks. The former consist of seedlings which naturally attain to the same size as the 

 parent tree ; the latter are of lesser growth. The apple will grow on the pear and 

 other allied species or genus, but only proves satisfactory on stocks that will be alluded 

 to. The pear is not so fastidious as the apple. It " takes" on the hawthorn (Cratsegus 

 oxycantha) and other species of that genus ; also on the Mountain Ash (Pyrus aucuparia) 



