148 Fruit-growing in Arid Regions 



worked on some strong-growing stump, it makes a very 

 satisfactory tree. Some varieties of apple, susceptible 

 to attacks of root rots, could no doubt be successfully 

 grown on roots of varieties that are apparently resistant. 

 The Northern Spy seems to be a striking example of an 

 apple-tree root free from the attacks of woolly aphis, and 

 it is sometimes planted and later worked over to other 

 varieties. 



Broken and diseased limbs may be saved by grafting, 

 and progressive fruit-growers, who desire to test new 

 varieties, can best do it by grafting a few cions into bear- 

 ing trees. 



Some years ago the fruit-grower looked on the practice 

 of grafting as a mysterious art and on the man who went 

 about doing the work as a sort of wizard. As a matter 

 of fact, it is so simple that any careful orchardist can and 

 should do it himself. 



All of our common fruit trees can be easily grafted or 

 budded. The apple and pear may be intergrafted upon 

 each other, and the same may be said of the peach, plum, 

 apricot, and almond. But in practice, we do not under- 

 take such wholesale mixing. It may be said that the 

 apple and pear never make good unions; while such com- 

 binations may unite, the union may not be perfect enough 

 to make a good top. We would not expect the top- work- 

 ing of apple to pear, or vice versa, to be a success. The 

 writers have seen peach grafts start very vigorously upon 

 apricot, and plums upon peach trees. We have observed 

 plum trees top-worked to peach with perfect unions and 

 the ten-year old tops bearing excellent crops of fruit. In 

 this case the combination seemed to result in a dwarfing 



