PROPAGATION. 187 



matrimony, are mistakes for a lifetime. Onoe the union is effected it 

 cannot be disoonnected without destroying the tree, whence the importance 

 of making the hest possible match between the scion and the stock. The 

 peach and the almond ought to be the fittest stocks for peaches and nec- 

 tarines, as far as the laws of consanguinity are concerned. But other 

 things must be studied as well as blood, and prominent among these are 

 soil and, climate, and experience seems to prove that the temperature of 

 the earth is too cold for the roots of the peach and nectarine, whence, 

 possibly, the fact that the plum proves the better stock for the peach in 

 this country. 



Plums for peach stocks may be raised from seeds or layers ; suckers, 



Fio. 1. 



Fis. 3. 



Fia, 2. 



which are plentiful at times, may also be used for stocks. The first 

 mode is identical with the raising of stocks from peaches and 

 almonds. The commoner and more free growing plums are generally 

 used tor these purposes. These also come more freely from seeds than 

 the fiaer varieties. The March plum, and what is called the white pear 

 plum, and damsons, are those most generally used. The St. Julien, Black 

 Damask, the Brussels, Magnum Bonum, Orleans, and other plums are 

 also used for stocks. Of late years the MyrobeUa has also been much 

 employed as a stock for dwarf or small trees. These may be sown in 

 the open ground in the autumn in beds of rich earth, and transplanted 

 into lines as soon as they reach a few inches high. This removal may 

 somewhat check growth for a time, but is needful for the laying the 

 foundation of fertile roots for the peach and nectarine. Fig. 1 furnishes 



c 



