FRUIT TREES. Chap. I. 17 



the same family, it's called by its own name: so one would say a peach tree grafted on an 

 almond tree, an apricot tree grafted on a plum tree, a clingstone apricot tree grafted on an 

 apricot tree, an apple tree grafted on a Doucin apple tree, a cherry tree grafted on a wild 

 cherry tree, &c. 



Some gardeners claim that setting a graft onto another graft of the same variety or 

 of the same species increases the amount of fruit & improves its quality. I've never been 

 able to detect such benefits. But an interstock with an intermediate relationship between 

 the graft & the stock can produce good results. Grafting a quince tree onto a wild stock of 

 a pear tree & then a separate pear tree onto the quince graft can make the tree bear fruit 

 more quickly. It even might be necessary in a region where quince trees do poorly & 

 where only medium-sized pear trees are required. First grafting apricot trees onto plum 

 trees & then peach trees onto the apricot tree grafts is an expedient procedure for several 

 kinds of peaches, & especially for the white peach. 



§.3. Properties of Grafts. 



GRAFTS must be taken from fully developed trees that are neither too young nor 

 too old, fully productive, and healthy & whose species is well defined & authentic. This 

 last quality deserves attention, particularly for trees that sometimes are propagated from 

 seeds that are prone to vary & almost always degenerate the species. There's a great 

 difference between an authentic mignone peach, a genuine greengage plum, and their 

 varieties. The descriptions that I'll provide for each tree will allow this distinction to be 

 made. And since the wood & the leaves of most fruit trees don't have characteristics 

 sufficient to distinguish between a species and its varieties, and often not even between 

 one species and another, 



