-9- 



PROPAGATING YOUR OWN FRUIT TREES 



James F. Anderson 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



Fruit growers in many areas o£ the country have experienced 

 difficulty in obtaining nursery trees. I know of several Massa- 

 chusetts growers who have waited 2 or more years to receive tree 

 orders and then have had to accept substitutions as to size and 

 make-up of the tree ordered. Reasons suggested for this scarcity 

 of fruit tree nursery stock are: (1) an increased demand for fruit 

 trees due to both new and replacement plantings; (2) a tendency to 

 use closer planting distances in many of these plantings; (3) loss 

 of both understock and budded trees in the nursery due to adverse 

 weather conditions; (4) shortages of certain understock (1 or 2 

 favorable and often preliminary reports on a new rootstock will 

 create a demand that may take several years to satisfy) ; and (5) 

 lack of qualified budders resulting in poorer stands in the nursery 

 row. 



Because of this scarcity of nursery stock a number of growers 

 have indicated an interest in propagating their own fruit trees. 

 For those individuals contemplating such an operation I would sug- 

 gest that they secure and read the following publications: New 

 York Food and Life Sciences Bulletin, No. 19, June 1972; Tree Rais - 

 ing on the Fruit Farm-An Essay on Management . by James C. Cummins, 

 and New York State Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 817, 

 May 196 7: Propagating Fruit Trees in New York by R.D. Way, F. G. 

 Dennis and R~! M. Gilmer . Both are available from the Department 

 of Pomology and Viticulture, New York State Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, Geneva, NY 14456. There is a mailing and handling 

 charge of 20 cents for each publication. Checks should be made out 

 to the New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 



It is not unrealistic or impossible for the orchardist to pro- 

 pagate his own trees if he is willing to carry out the necessary 

 nursery operations on a timely basis. Those growers who currently 

 find it difficult to complete their orchard operations on time should 

 not attempt to propagate their own trees. 



An open site that has good air drainage and a well drained 

 fertile soil is best suited for the nursery site. It would be 

 desirable for the nursery to be located near the residence or 

 orchard office area to provide for more efficient management and 

 possible protection from deer damage. An isolated planting is more 

 apt to be neglected. The orchardist growing his own nursery trees 

 might use the following tree schedule: 



1. Order the desired rootstocks at least 1 year in advance of plant- 

 ing as the demand is often greater than the supply. 



