38 PIGTOBIAL PBAGTIOAL FRUIT OBOWINQ. 



CDaptcr V— fruit Stocks and Grafting. 



Caelylb made fun, in his grim, sly way, of the countryman who " had no 

 system " ; but Hodge gets along rather better, in happy ignorance of what 

 he would probably describe as his "innards," than a good many people 

 whose vast knowledge of physiology only just stops short at ability to 

 conduct a learned post-mortem on themselves. Ignorance was just as bliss- 

 f al in the case of the old-style fruit grower, who knew nothing about the 

 system of' his trees, yet managed to get more fruit off them than the man 

 who knew everything. 



In these days we are not satisfied with knowing that a certain tree will 

 bear Apples if we will only let it ; we want to know what stock it is on, 

 how it was worked, whether the man who budded or grafted it has passed 

 an examination in pomology, and various other side items. Well, there is 

 no harm in knowing a few facts about stocks, so long as we do not make 

 the mistake of thinking that such information alone will fill the fruit room 

 and reduce Covent Garden to astonished admiration : let us therefore glance 

 at them for a few moments. A man has only to pass a probation in a fruit 

 nursery to learn that there are scores of fruit stocks ; and he has only to 

 keep his eyes open to discover that half a dozen of them are vastly more 

 important than all the rest. What, to begin with, is a " stock " ? It is a 

 species of the same genus as the fruit with which it is associated, of very 

 poor fruiting qualities, yet possessing merits in the way of free, healthy, 

 hardy growth, or of abundant rooting near the surface of the soil. Some 

 people would do away with stocks, and grow the fruits from seed or 

 cuttings on their own roots and stems. Other people admonish the earth 

 for not being flat, and sow their seeds at the full of the moon. They are 

 all harmless. Most of us make the best of the earth as it is, and adapt 

 ourselves to the best systems of propagating fruit trees in the same philo- 

 sophic spirit. Here are a few of the stocks used for fruit trees : — 



Apples. — Broad-leaved Paradise, narrow-leaved Paradise, Doucin, Non- 

 such, Crab, and free (free stocks are seedlings of cultivated Apples, 

 principally cider sorts). 



Apricots, same as Peaches or Plums. 



Cherries. — Mahaleb for dwarf trees, Geau and seedlings for standards. 



Peaches and Nectarines. — Almond, Mussel, Myrobalan, St. Julien, and 

 others. 



Pears. — Common Pear and Quince. 



Plums. — Brompton, Brussels, Black Damask, Mussel, seedling Plums, 

 St. Julien, and others. 



The most important of these are the broad-leaved Paradise and the 

 Crab (Apples) ; the Gean and the Mahaleb (Cherries) ; the Mussel and 

 St. Julien (Peaches and Nectarines) ; the Pear and Quince (Pears) ; the 

 Brompton and Mussel (Plums). With respect to Pears, however, there are 

 some varieties which will not take to any stock, and have to be worked on 

 a foster variety which is already established on the stock before they will 

 make a good union. I have found Beurre d'Amanlis to be the most useful 

 of these foster Pears ; Ollivier de Serres is also serviceable, and there are 

 many others. 



