FRUIT CULTURE. 



89 



observation constrain me to question its truthfulness ; certainly 

 its application to our own country. For instance, the fact is 

 familiar to you all, that scions of the pear come into hearing, 

 wlien grafted on the quince, earlier than on the pear stock. 

 This is believed to result from the early maturity of the quince, 

 which, while it does not change the variety of the pear, imparts its 

 own precocity thereto. We realize a corresponding hastening to 

 maturity when the scion is grafted into a pear tree which has 

 also arrived at maturity ; especially is this to be expected when 

 the stock is in itself one of a precocious character. If any 

 facts seem to oppose this doctrine, they may be regarded either 

 as exceptions to the general law, or as the results of locality' 

 and cultivation. 



The physiological principle of the vegetable kingdom under 

 which this doctrine obtains is, tliat the bud contains the embryo 

 tree, and that the strong or precocious stock constrains it to 

 elaborate more material into wood and foliage, and thus pro- 

 motes both growth and fruitfulness. 



Common sense, as well as common observation, confirm this 

 statement. Witness the pear, which we have known to fruit the 

 fourth year from seed, when grafted on the quince. We know 

 a seedling from the Seckel pear, grafted on the Bartlett, which 

 bore the present season, and is only four years from the seed. 

 The Catharine Gardette, raised by Dr. Brinckle, was brought 

 into bearing by grafting on the quince, in five years, while the 

 original seedlings, in all these instances, are only three to five 

 feet in height, and will require several additional years to bring 

 them into bearing. Is it reasonable to suppose that a seedling 

 pear, which in two years, in a given location, attains the height 

 of one or two feet with but few branches, will fruit as early as 

 a scion from the same seedling when grafted on a strong tree, 

 which elaborates and assimilates through its abundant branches 

 and luxuriant foliage, ten times the amount of all the elements 

 constituting growth and maturity ? 



Hence, enforcing a former suggestion in respect to raising 

 new varieties, I respectfully urge you to continue and increase 

 your efforts, and in order to hasten maturity, and to multiply 

 the chances of success, I confidently recommend the grafting 

 of seedling fruits at the earliest possible moment. 



In respect to the best method of obtaining choice varieties 



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