From: "oliver smith callis" <oliversmithcallis@gmail.com>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Cc: dwoodard@becon.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] [permaculture] heritage peach tree preservation
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:59:16 -0600
Doug, thanks for your input. According to the person I talked to, who manages an orchard adjacent to the property where these peach trees are, and who is the grandson of the man who planted them, the variety was bud grafted onto this French cultivar. It sounded like it was brought over as a sapling, probably wrapped in burlap. The trees were well taken care of up until the last decade or so, and he is certain that they were planted between 1875 and 1895.
Thanks, Oliver >>
>Thanks for the replies & suggestions. I should have clarified
I do not own or control the property (which is at risk of being
developed) and >am limited to propagation strategies to preserve this
rootstock & variety. For the rootstock- I though I might dig up one
of the roots and >expose part of it above ground, protect it with a milk
carton with the bottom cut off (staked to the ground), add some
fertilizer and see if I >can't get it to sprout. Then sever the root
from the tree and replant it. Does this seem feasible? Also, what if I
took root cuttings, dipped >them in rooting hormone and left them in a
rooting medium-vermiculite type mixture...
>Much appreciated,