never keep pace in tliclr growth with the fruit bud- 



" ' : as alfo bccaufe the fruit 



ded or grattcd upon tucm 



upon fuch flocks 



to' be ftony, than when they 



cominonly drier, and more apt 



Pear ftocks. 



are 



upon 



Quince ftocks are greatly ufed ifi the nurferies for all 

 forts of Pears which are defigned for dwarfs or walls, 

 in order to check the Juxuriancy of their growth, fo 

 that they mav be kept within coinpafs better than up- 

 on free ftocks. But'againft the general ufe of thefe 

 ftocks, for all forts of Pears indifferently, there are 

 very great objections : i ft, Becaufe fome forts of Pears 

 will not thrive upon thefe ftocks, but in two or three 

 years decay, or at moft will but juft keep alive. 2dly, 

 Moft.of the forts of hard breaking Pears are rendered 

 ftony, and good for little; fo that whenever any' of 

 thefe forts are thus injudicioufly raifed, the fruit, al- 

 though the kind be ever fo good, is condemned as 



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good for nothing by fuch as are not well acquainted 

 with it, when the fault is entirely owjrg'to'the ftock 

 on whi(5h it was grafted. On the contrary, moft melt- 

 ing buttery Pears are greatly improved by being upon 

 Quince ftocks, provided they are planted on a ftrong 

 foil'i 'but, if the ground be very dry and gravelly, no 



- - 



fort of Pear will do well upon Quince^ ftocks in fuch 



places. 



Thefegeneral directions b^^ there is no oc- 



casion to repeat any part of the method in which thefe 



* ftocklyre ralfcd,' and the fruits' budded 'or grafted 



' therebnV -Which has been already mentioned under the 



■ article of Nurseries;; . 



"The diftance ♦.vhich thefe trees ftiould be planted ei- 

 ther againft walls or efpaliers;' muft not be lefs than 

 forty feet -, " for if they have hot room to fprcad ' on 



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each fide, it will be impofTible to ^ 



good order, ef^ecially thofe oh'free ftocks, for ^"the 



more thefe trees are pruned, the nioVethey willlhobt j 

 'and, as I faid before, many forts^ of .Pears produce 

 "^ their bloffom-buds firft atthe extremity oj the former 



year's Ihoots, fo that when they are ffiortened, the 

 ; "fruit will be cut away, and this cannot be avoided, 

 :Twheretlie trees have not room allowed in their firft 



Thi'sdiftadcc, f doufct nci^r'will be bbjeded to by 



many \^^o have not fully attended" to the growth of 



thefe trees, efpecially as it hath been the general 



^praftice of n^oft gardeners to plant thefe jrees at lefs 



,than half the diftance -which is here merTtioned ; but, 



whoever will be at the trouble to view any of thefe 



trees which have been forne years ftanding, they will 



always find, if by accident; ohfeof thefe trees has been 



planted againft a building, Where the branches have 



had roSmto fpread, that this tree has produced more 



fruit thift twelve trees which have beeij crouded clofe, 



■•■ ^-and have not room for their branches to extend. There 



*"" are fome Pear-trees now Rrowing, which Ipread more 



/-t-han; fifty feet in length, and are upward or twenty 



f ■ ■ |'cet*Kig^ greater quantity of 



:' fruif thanjf there had been thred trees in the fame 



roorh' tffey would have done, as there are examples 



£ enough ' to prove,' ;wherc trees are^ planted againft 



houfes and the e^ds of buildings at about twelve 



feet, or much lefs diftance, becaufe there is height 



of walling for them to grow, which is the reafbn com-' 



monly given by thofe who plant thefe trees fo clofe to- 



gether;':';But one tree will bear more fruit, when the 



branches' are trained horizontally, than three of tour 



trees, 'whofebrkhches are led upright, and xhere ne- 



-.vercin be any danger of the upper part of^the wall 



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being* left naked oi-unfurniftied[;^for I have feen a 

 Pe?Lr-tree. which has fpread more than fifty feet in 

 width, Xnd cbveFed% waltupward of thirty-fix feet 

 in height 5 this was a fum'mer Boncfetien Pear, and 

 was extremely fruitful, which rarely happens to this 

 fort when they are not allowed a large (hare of room. 

 The fineft tree of this fort of Pear, which I have ever 

 (ttti^ was a larger ftandardrtrce in my own poffcffion, 

 v/hofc ftem was not. more than ten feet high, where 

 the branches came Out regularly on every fide, and 

 extended near thirty feet from ttie trunk, many of 



which Were by the weight* of the fruit in fummer 



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brought down to the ground, fo they were obliaed 

 to be fupparted with poles all around the tree "^o" 

 ward the extremity of the branches, to prevent their 

 lying upon the ground j and this tree had its branches 

 fo difpofed as to form a natural parabola of forty 

 -Jeet in height, bearing from the loweft to the hipheft 

 branches; fo that in a kindly fealbn, when the bloitoms 

 efcaped the froft, it hath produced upv/ard of two 

 thoufand Pears, 'which were much better flavoured 

 .than any of the fame fort- which I have yet tafted. 

 This itiftarice I mention, only to ftiev/ how much one 

 of thefe trees will fpread, " if proper room be allowed 

 it ; and alfo to obferve, that as the branches of this 

 tree had never been 'ftiortened, they w^cre fruitful to 

 , their extremi'ties. This fhews the abfurdiry of the 

 French gardeners, who do h6t allow more than ten or 

 : twelve feet diftance to thefe trees i and fome of their 

 ; moft improved writers on this fubjeft have advifed 

 the planting an Apple-tree between the Pear-trees, 

 ■where they are allowed twelve feet; and yet thefe au- 

 thors afterward fay, that a good Pear-tree will ftioot 

 three feet tachway in one year; therefore, accord- 

 ing to their own obfervation, the trees fo planted will 

 have theii: branches meet together in two or three 

 years at moft, and what muft be the cafe with fuch 

 trees in five or fix years is not d.ifEcult to know. But 

 "this method of planting has not been peculiar to the 

 French, foi-^'moft' of the gardens in England have 

 been little better planted. Indeed, thofe perfons who 

 were irtfrufted Vith the niakirig and planting moft of 

 ' the EneUfti '^rdens, had littjefkill of their own, fo 

 . were obliged to follow the .diredions of the French 

 ' gardeners 5 "of whom they had fo great an opinion, as 

 '':_to get their books tranflated, and to thefe have added 

 ■' 'fome trifling notes, which rather befraj their weak- 

 ";:"^efs,^- for, where tfieyliave objected to the little room 

 which their authbfs had ^kllowed to thefe trees, thev 

 have, at the moft,' allowed them but three feetniore; 

 ' * from which it is pl^in, they had riot confidered the 

 natural growth of the trees, and whoever departs 



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\i'from nature, may Be juftly pronounced an unlkilful 



^^-^frardener < >^ c*/ v ,i^rr:* "^n: >^-" »> ^ • ^-^^ 



As moft of the Englifh gardens have been made and 

 planted by perfons of little judgnrtent, it is very rare 

 to find any of them which produce much fruit ; for 

 altKough many of thefe gardens have been totally al- 

 tered and new planted, yet they have feldom been 

 much altered for the better ; and the pofleflTors have 

 been put to the expence of removing the old trees, 

 alfo the earth of their borders, and to purchafe new. 

 trees, which have been planted perhaps a foot or two 

 farther afunder, than the old trees which were re- 

 moved ; fo that when the young trees have grown a 

 few years, th^y^were in the fame condition as the old, 

 and it will be the lofs of fb many years to the owner : 

 but this' will conftantl;^ be the cafe, when it is the 

 ihtereft of the perfons emptoyedl who can fell fofna- ' 

 H* ny young trees ; and the planting of three times the 

 hutnber of trees ih a garden,' nibre than is proper, 



.' ttiayin fofng^'meafure be afcribed to the fame, though 

 in many inftances I ftiall be inclinable to think they 

 have proceeded from ignorance, rather than defign. 

 But %here fruit-trees have been thus iiyudiciouliy 

 planted, if tht 'ftocks are healthy and good'^ the belt 

 way to recover this lofs is todig up two or three, ana 

 leave eyery^tMrd or^fourdfi' tree, 'accordiAg' to the 



' .planted, and fpread down 



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diftance whicK they _ 



the brancW^of thofd which* are left horizontally; I 



mean, all fuch as are capable of being fo brought 



' down • bu^ thpfe which are, too ftubborn for this, 

 Ihould be cut off near the ftem, where there will be 

 new ftioots enough produced to furnilh the wall or 

 efpalier ; and if the fort of fruit is not the fame as de- 

 fired, the young branches may be budded the fame 

 funhmer," or grafted the 'following fp'ring with any 

 other fort of Pear, and hereby' many years may be 

 faved ;'foronc of thefe old trees fo budded or graft- 

 ed, will Ipread to a much greater length, and pro- 



:duce more fruit, when thus managecJ, in three years, 



than a new tree will m ten or twelve, efpeciauy irtne 



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