On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 20:59:34 -0600, John DeBoo
wrote:



In what sense? Certainly they will retain the basic qualities of a
Apricot as opposed to a Peach or Lemon (for example). Or is this
where goos juicy vs lousy fruit might come to play?

Characteristics that might be affected:

* good or lousy fruit
* resistance to disease
* size - dwarf tree, semi-dwarf or full size (these are the
three sizes that fruit trees come in)
* resistance to cold
* how attractive the tree is to various insects
* how late or early in spring the tree blossoms (this can be
important, we have late frosts in spring here and trees that
blossom early will have their blossoms killed by the late
frost - therefore no fruit that year)

In short: anything hereditary. Take a look at dogs:
chihuahuas and Newfoundlands, collies and dachsunds -
they're all the same species - all dogs. But what a
variation!

Well, all (for example) peach trees are one species:
_Prunus persica_ . But there can be, and is, considerable
variation within a species.


Most fruit trees are GRAFTED: a top from one type is
grafted onto roots from another type.

Really - I had no idea they were derived this way. Thanx for the
explanation.

You're welcome. I didn't think you knew it, that's why I
explained it. g

Pat