PROPAGATION AND FRUIT-STOCKS 345 



308. Plum stocks. — In Europe and to some extent in 

 this country, the plum is propagated by suckers which arise 

 freely from the roots of several of the species. To make 

 use of such suckers, the tree must of course be on its own 

 roots. Mound-layering and root-cuttings are also employed 

 to some extent with the plum and in all of the above cases 

 obtaining a stock is not a problem. When plums are worked 

 on other stocks, the species must be considered. P. domestica 

 is usually worked on seedlings of the same species, the stocks 

 being largely imported. The mj^robalan (P. cerasifera) is 

 chiefly used for plums because of its cheapness and because 

 it makes a good union with all varieties; 80 per cent of this 

 stock is imported. For colder regions, P. americana stocks 

 are preferred. For light soils the peach is often taken as 

 a plum stock. Mariamia (probably a hybrid form of myro- 

 balan and some native plum of the Wild Goose type), St. 

 Julien, apricot, and almond are also used as stock for the 

 plum. For dwarfing, the myrobalan stock is employed as 

 is also the mirabelle (also a form of P. cerasifera), the P. 

 americana, P. Munsoniana, and P. angustifolia. 



309. Cherry stocks. — Like the plum, the cherry will 

 grow readily from root-cuttings, but it is usually budded on 

 the seedling stock. The stock most commonly used is the 

 Mazzard, a hardy and vigorous variety of the common sweet 

 cherry (Prunus avium). This tree occurs along roadsides in 

 the Central West and the seed is obtained in this country 

 to some extent, but probably 90 per cent of the cheriy stock 

 is imported. The sour cherries are frequently worked on 

 the Mahaleb (Prunus Mahaleb) in this country as it makes 

 a congenial stock and the seedlings are relatively cheap. 

 The Morella cherries are worked on the Mahaleb stock, al- 

 though Morella seedlings are sometimes used to a limited 

 extent. P. pumila and P. Besseyi are listed as promising 

 for dwarfing the cherry. 



