Fruit tree grafting

I have a wonderful old pear tree in my yard. I have no idea how old it is, but half of the tree trunk is rotted away, and anyone looking at it would wonder how it could still be alive. Two years ago, our first summer in the house, it boasted a huge number of large round, green, crisp and juicy pears. They were delicious! Last year it produced nothing, but I have hope for this coming year. Anyway, my fear is that one day an ice storm (or a slight breeze) will come along and the old dear will split in two. In the hopes of keeping this glorious, if unknown, variety of pear going, I just took cuttings to provide scions for grafting. A farm up in Reidsville, Century Farm Orchards (www.centuryfarmorchards.com), grows heirloom varieties of apples and pears, ones grown for hundreds of years in the South, and adapted to our climate. They will also graft trees if people have old varieties at home they want to perpetuate. Fruit trees are typically grafted: this means that the top portion of the tree is one variety, and the bottom (roots) is a different variety, one which is more hardy than the top. Rootstock may also lend size characteristics to the tree, with semi- dwarf and dwarf rootstocks available which limit the height of the tree. They'll take my cuttings, graft (attach) to a hardy rootstock, and look after the new creations throughout the summer. Then, in the fall, the proper time to plant fruit trees, I'll ride up to CFO and pick up my new baby pear trees! I'll plant the pears near the 4 heirloom apple varieties I got at CFO last fall.

I'm already looking forward to having some of their sublime homemade apple cider.