nfr wrote:
I'm looking into the posssiblity of raising some new apple trees from
my old trees, and have a specifc question about propogating /
increasing rootstock.

Lets forget the grafting of the scion for a moment.

The question is, lets suppose I can get hold of or buy a small
quantity of rootstock, would I then be able to increase this stock
myself. Put another way, if you plant some rootstock without grafting
onto it I'm assuming it will grown into a bush / tree? I'm then
assuming you could take cuttings / layering to increase stock.


Yes, yes.

Is this practical? I'm assuming one of the disadvantage is you need
time (several years) on your hands for the rootstock to estabish to
the point that it can be used to produce further stock?

It is done all the time by commercial growers so clearly it is practical.
Whether the time required is reasonable for the result obtained only you can
answer. This kind of thing is taught in horticulture courses regularly at
technical and trade colleges. I would expect that you could get (maybe
borrow) a book from them that will tell you all about it so you can decide
if it is worth the trouble.

D