PEARS ON THE QUINCE. 



At the last meeting of the London Pomological Society, Mr. 

 Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, exhibited three pyramidial Pear-trees, 

 and with them the following memoranda. He said: "The trees 

 (Louise Bonne of Jersey) are from seven to eight years old. No. 

 1, a tree budded on the Quince, has struck root from the collar of 

 the graft ; as soon as this took place, about three or four years ago, 

 all the Quince roots died, for, as will be seen, the stump is quite 

 bare. These (Pear) roots penetrated into the solid, calcareous clay to 

 the depth of nearly five feet, and so hard was the clay that the spade 

 could not penetrate it so as to take them out to their full length. — 

 As soon as these roots struck into the clay, the tree ceased to bear, 

 and its shoots become full of cankery spots, the leaves more green 

 than those on the Quince roots, and the young shoots more vigorous, 

 although they cankered and died back. Out of a plantation of 

 two thousand pyramids of this variety on the Quince, only the tree 

 now sent and another have struck root from the collar of the graft, 

 and both are in the same state. Last year, every tree except these 

 two was covered with the very finest fruit ; the tree sent did not 

 bear one — the other produced two or three, which were cracked, 

 spotted, and worthless. No. 2 is a tree of the same sort, on the 

 Quince stock, which grew within five feet of No. 1 ; this, in common 

 with the others in the same plantation, has no canker, and has borne 

 fine, clean fruit. The soil is moist, and brings on moss to a small 

 extent. No. 3 is on the Quince, and is a young tree that has been 

 twice removed. Trees of this kind, where soil is not favorable (and 

 I have a part of my nursery the soil of which is very wet and cold), 

 I remove biennially, giving them a compost of sand and rotten 

 manure. In a few years, their roots become like those of rhodo- 

 dendrons, and keep close to the surface, so that the trees keep in good 

 health, and bear profusely. The fibrosity of the roots of the tree 

 sent is remarkable." 



These specimens were extremely interesting, showing as they did 

 that the Quince was better suited for certain kinds of soils than the 

 Pear stock ; they also showed how necessary it is to keep the roots 

 of our fruit-trees near the surface, and indicated that, under certain 

 circumstances, at least, to deep rooting we owe barrenness and 

 canker. — Ihid. 

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