At my previous house, I lost a pear to fireblight.  The spot was convenient, so I replanted with a Cox's Orange Pippin on G11 dwarfing rootstock.  After 4 years, still no problem with the tree.

This spring I grafted Cox's Orange Pippin to Emla 26 picked up at the HOS scion exchange.  So far, it also seems be be doing ok.  It will be interesting going forward.

http://www.thenewfruitgrower.c.....page_1.htm

John:

The tree was at my previous home in Northern Utah.  Recently, I moved back to Oregon and am looking for property with space for a orchard in commuting distance to Corvallis (also in my price range, as homes are overpriced, compared to Utah). 

We fought fireblight in that 'Anjou' pear for several years before it succumbed.  My neighbor's 'Bartlett" also died of fireblight a couple years before my pear succumbed.  I also had a 'Red Sensation' pear planted on the South side of the home that is still doing well, with never any problem.  In fact, I took 'Red Sensation' scion from that tree and grafted on a rootstock for planting here in Oregon.  The 'Anjou' was in a bit of a low spot on the North side of the property, and winter severity over several years probably stressed the tree. That area (Cache Valley) would get down to -25 to -35 F sometimes. 

I still wanted to use the spot in the orchard, so researched rootstock that would probably do ok if exposed to fireblight, handle the heavy clay soil, and the cold winter temps.  The G11 looked promising for resistance and dwarfing ability, so that was what I used.  Most of the other apples were on M111, and they also did not have problems, but required a great deal of pruning to remain manageable sized.  The 'Cox's Pippin' on the G11 was a bit of a gamble instead of going with a newer, disease resistant variety, but I had always wanted one in my orchard.

...........Now if I can just find someone in the Willamette Valley to get some 'foxwhelp' apple scion, Ukranian Almond ('Bounty' and 'Nikita's Pride') scion, and peach ('Nanaimo' and 'Mary Jane') scion for my remaining root stocks for bud grafting, then I will be set for planting next spring.....

....and yes, it is bacterial:

http://extension.usu.edu/files.....ght-08.pdf

Reinettes said
I think that what I'll do is put myself on the waiting list for a bundle of 50 (--just in case) and put in my usual order for some Malling-Merton rootstocks to cover what I plan to acquire in scion wood.  If the Geneva rootstocks do come through then I'd have them ready for some summer bud-grafts and would try stooling propagation with the others.  From the information that I've been able to find on the internet, The G 202 rootstock is not [yet?] one that has been patented.  Of course, propagation would strictly be for my own use as I have no interest in, or talent for, commercial activities.

I knew I should start looking into the rootstock availability early, so finding it so difficult to acquire was a disappointment.  Que seroo, seroo....  Patience is a virtue.  

You also said elsewhere last year that you had found some G 030. But from Where?

Like you I was also active during a period of time with NAFEX, but dropped out like everybody during the attempted transition they had to eliminate hacking etc. (just like HOS before changes to the new server transition etc.) ..HOS being in good shape now.

I am also currently active in the northern districts of fruit growing and with that I have tested and recommended a wild hybrid apple cross as pear interstems to join apples to pears. (ie. to Bernie: hybrid malus 'palmetta')   For which is my original accomplishment starting out from Fairbanks Alaska and now SW Washington. So in furthering this hybrid form of apple I would like to test more apple scion combinations to make sure the hybrid is really malus and G 030 seems to me like a good choice and therefore would like to trade something for it in case nobody else sells it.

The Palmetta hybrid is early to flower and kind of half way between "willowy" as you said before, from the malus baccata parent. It is also part dwarf from both parents, other side being a spreading form of apple of high elevations of Rhine river as in past NE Austria. With that it may be possible to use 'palmetta' on 'G 030' with the final product of a blight resistant scaffold to which pear buds can be grafted on.

Reinettes:

Thankyou, I see G 30 for sale in the fall sales brochure!

I understand your concern of it (G 30) not being very tested as far as breakage reports at the graft and your windy site etc. Maybe it would work out well if you saved G 30 as a scaffold trunk which where in the future there will be no worry of one big total loss of the triploid cultivar. 

AS TO the "wild hybrid apple cross" that you mention, what kind of experimentation have you done in grafting pears to apples?  It is usually "much easier" to graft two genera together than to cross them sexually.  Two very different things. 

I am not that into that area so much as to experiment with material I have to place orders for in gene-banks. When I have lots of access to free scions of apple rootstocks that we see at the grafting event volunteer tables each spring I simply take and try on pear. The hybrid I came across was as a northern visitor in Fairbanks with another grafting buddy residing in Alaska who had some of that. Then ever since of 5 years ago with his being by far the greatest pear type of apple I kept getting going forward with it.

In this venture I included some pure malus baccata to pear, but the odds of consistency were just as poor as other apples were. At which point Bernie in Edmonton had been asking others for ways other than less cold hardy winter banana, and the rest is history. We report it to be hardy and better growing than WB! 

My biggest concern is what has been a big problem finding in Alaska that seedling malus baccata (non selections) has delayed failures or delayed tree death as a rootstock to other apples. When that happens somebody took charge to select better cultivars from those seedlings for future sales at the Fairbanks scion exchanges.

My first priorities of interest are stone fruit. With hardy apples being my second, I admit to crossing malus species. In this case "malus" is easier to cross to other malus (ie. m baccata x malus domesticata) than the above (previously) reports of "grafting associative" problems. 

I also take some interest in pear and a priority to hardy chokecherry and hardy sweet cherry (if I can get it). Pear is like prunus in that they will graft much easier (the way you said) than "crosses made".