34 BEST KINDS OF STOCKS. 



the preceding chapter. But such dwarfs are com- 

 paratively short-lived. 



Sometimes different stocks are used as a protec- 

 tion from the attacks of insects. For example, the ' 

 peach and apricot, which are very liable to attacks 

 of the peach-worm, are budded upon the plum, 

 which very seldom suffers. The quince is often 

 destroyed or injured by the borer, but the pear is 

 exempt from this injury ; hence the former may be 

 grafted on the latter. But such expedients are not 

 always successful. Instances have been observed 

 where the peach- worm, not to be thwarted in this 

 way, had attacked the apricot at the place of 

 union on the plum, even as high as three feet from 

 the ground. Yet, although such failures are not 

 usual, it may be questioned whether the advantages 

 of plum stocks are as great as many suppose. A 

 careful attention, without which fruit trees cannot 

 prosper, will easily keep all peach trees clear of 

 the worm, as hereafter to be shown. 



In a few cases it becomes necessary to use dissi- 

 milar stocks, from the difficulty of obtaining others. 

 Thus, in England, it is not unusual to graft the 

 pear on the hawthorn; and in this country, to bud 

 the plum on the peach ; from the scarcity of other 

 stocks. Pears on the thorn, should be grafted at 

 the ground, to prevent the deformity resulting from 

 the more rapid growth of the former. Such pear 

 trees flourish well; but the fruit is said to be injur- 



