North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

If you want to preserve the varieties, this is probably a good time to collect budwood.  If there are any useable shoots on the trees now, see if you can find a nurseryman with peach rootstock available to bud a number of the trees.   The new trees could be planted in a better location, and would insure plenty of propagation stock for future use.
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
On Jul 10, 2006, at 11:53 AM, oliver smith callis wrote:

Hello All,
I am conducting a heritage fruit tree preservation project in my area, Utah Valley, Utah. I have just come across a stand of peach trees which are around 100 to 120 years old. The grandson of the man who planted the trees said that his great grandmother brought a peach tree here from France which was used as the rootstock. The trees are in bad shape as horses have been kept in the orchard they are in, and may not last long. It seems to me that this would be a good rootstock to preseve as most commercial orchardists in my area say that peach trees don't typically last longer than 25 years. Does anybody have any info on stimulating a root into producing a tree or any other means of propogating the rootstock? An orchardist here suggested "hitting them with nitrates in the spring" to get something off of the roots. I would prefer to use a biodynamic/organic method of propogation, any input would be great. 
Much appreciated,