The ornamental species and varieties of apples and crabs are budded or grafted upon common apple stocks. The mountain ashes are grown from stratified seeds, which usually lie dormant until the second year, or the varieties are budded or grafted upon stocks of the common species (P. Aucuparia). Layers and green cuttings are occasionally employed for various species and varieties of pyrus. See also [Apple], [Pear], [Quince]. It is a good plan to obtain stocks as nearly related to the plant which is to be propagated as possible; e. g., Parkman’s pyrus does better on P. floribunda than on the common apple stock.
Quamoclit. See [Ipom]œa.
Quassia. Simarubeæ.
Cuttings of ripe shoots under glass.
Stocks are grown readily from seeds, which may be sown in the fall without stratification. The evergreen species are sometimes grown from cuttings. Varieties are grafted on stocks grown from wild acorns. The stocks are potted in the fall and the grafting is performed in January and February, or sometimes in August.
Quince (Pyrus Cydonia, P. Japonica, P. Cathayensis). Rosaceæ.
All quinces can be grown from seeds, the same as apples and pears; but seeds are not common in the market, and are therefore little used in this country. The fruit-bearing quinces are propagated most cheaply by means of cuttings of mature wood. The cuttings are taken in the fall, and are stored in sand, moss or sawdust until spring, when they are planted out-doors. Long cuttings—10 to 12 inches—are usually most successful, as they reach into uniformly moist earth. Cuttings are usually made of the recent wood, and preferably with a heel, but wood two or three years old will usually grow. With some varieties and upon some soils, there is considerable uncertainty, and layerage is therefore often employed. Mound-layering (see [page 35]) is practiced where extra strong plants are required. Long root-cuttings, treated like those of the blackberry and raspberry, will also grow. Many nurserymen bud or root-graft the better varieties upon stocks of Angers or other strong sorts. These stocks are imported or grown from seeds or cuttings. The Chinese quince succeeds upon the common quince. In order to secure extra strong plants and a uniform stand, some growers graft quince cuttings upon pieces of apple or pear roots. In such cases the plants should be taken up in the fall, when the quince will be found to have sent out roots of its own; the apple root should be removed, and the quince replanted the following spring in the nursery row, otherwise suckers frequently spring from the stock and interfere with the growth of the quince. The union is sufficient to nurse the cion for two or three years.
The flowering or Japanese quince is best propagated by short root-cuttings, which are usually made in the fall, and scattered in drills in frames or in a well-prepared border in spring. Cuttings of firm, nearly mature wood, handled in frames, will grow, but they are not often used. The double varieties are root-grafted upon common stocks of P. Japonica in winter. The plants are then grown on in pots. Common quince (P. Cydonia) stocks are occasionally used, but they are not in favor.