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[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

The early grafting advantage isn't a matter of having more growing season at all.  And I'm only talking about pears and apples here.  I think that you want the grafts to begin growth during the first flush.  That is when the rest of the tree puts on the majority of its growth and I theorize that it also pushes much more excellerated growth of the grafts at this time.  A matter of a couple weeks gives you tripple growth.

 

Peaches and Jap plums are indeterminate growers- they grow rapidly all season long.  Any species that falls in this growth habit wouldn't benefit much from earlier grafting.  This is my theory.