More so than anywhere else in the world of fruits have I ever seen so much lack of information or public data about why propagation (ie. grafting) is so difficult with most of the species of prunus. Anybody that needs to have important trees to them propagated, such as a favorite apricot, peach, or sweet cherry then now is the time to gather scions, particularily those in high rainfall PNW districts.
I know these things by experience because I am owning trees in Washington as well as interior Alaska. With that there are two ways I have found that work very well. -keeping trees live and under the snow in Alaska then collecting scions in the spring. -storing PNW scions now, then keeping them very cool...
In the which of the last few years has given me the same respectable results one can have with the easier apples, pears and such.
I know this (prunus) is a reason I am always the first here to reminder everybody every year, but it is important to many here at this time.
Thanks for that John! 
...it applies not only the people farming them but the institutions that mail them in poor condition. I have even heard this lack of proper handling to be an issue for some pear varieties. This seems to indicate the problem may stem from bacterial pseudomonas syringae infected varieties or species more prone. Also the rootstock becomes an issue when (as you know from quince roots before) left out in the rain.
John S said
Most people, even orchardists, don't have half of the knowledge that you do about stone fruit, so it helps to get a reminder.
Thanks again John. I think with the grafting class training coming on Saturday this (what follows) should be good insurance for pear and prunus grafting.
I am not going to make mention of his name of whom I got this from as there may possibly be some side effects, but here I have three files uploaded from his emails to me, the first being coded as already open.
PNW Grafting insurance:
/end of paste
Pie cherries are not so much a concern gathering this late as in general, per sweet cherry, some other prunus, and possibly these siberian species of pear that are more bacterial prone than regular pear. So you have to favor better scions and rootstock and when you get stock that had been stored outside all winter, around here it is always bad news. The best advise there is to use colt or other non dwarfing cherry hybrids or else you "have to" use antibiotics.
The HOS gardens always carry over unsold krymsk-5 (ie. Dwarf) stocks. I have big problems grafting them. The problem being in nature of the same class of bacterial pseudomonads causing blackened pear leaves above. In young prunus the symptoms are inside the bark and more invisible until death occurs at the graft.
Here is a link that might be useful:
Download
Save your pie cherry scions now after some exposure to the antibiotics. Wait until some green (mouse ears) start showing on the stock and treat it. Then graft. These treatments should be the big savior to the bigger more established k-5s left overs from HOS right now.
The cooler strorage environment and earlier scion storage insurance is the more proven to better grafting than this latest newer method. I know that I am going to be using it in all my grafts going forward.
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