16 THE GARDENER. [Jan. 



Quince of Portugal is the best variety for a stock, as it is the strongest 

 and most robust of the family. The easiest and perhaps the best 

 method to obtain stocks of the Quince is to layer the young shoots in 

 winter, and allow no more than one bud to appear out of the soil. 

 In all probability this bud will form a shoot about 3 feet the first 

 season, which ought to be cut down in winter to about 6 inches, having 

 one or two inches more removed before the graft is inserted. It is 

 advisable to have as little of this stock above the ground as possible ; 

 and the reason for this is, that the Pear being of quicker growth than 

 the Quince, in the course of a few years the scion would be much 

 thicker than the stock, which, besides being unsightly, might be liable 

 to be broken over by a storm. By having the union as near the soil 

 as possible, both of these contingencies are guarded against. Al- 

 though it has been said that this stock is short-lived if used for the 

 Pear, yet nevertheless it is not so much so as most people are led 

 to believe, if care and skill are exercised in the management of the 

 trees. Mr R. Thompson in his admirable work, ' The Gardener's 

 Assistant,' says, "It has been said that the Pear on the Quince stock 

 is short-lived. It cannot, of course, be expected to live so long as when 

 worked upon the Pear stock, a more natural condition ; yet we can 

 point out trees on Quince stocks that have existed forty years and are 

 yet vigorous, exhibiting no symptoms of decay." Here is evidence 

 enough that trees upon the Quince have lived, thriven, and still con- 

 tinue to do so, for as long as any reasonable man can expect. 



Where the Pear is intended to be grafted upon the wild or perry 

 Pears, the seeds ought to be sown in a piece of good rich garden-soil in 

 rows about 18 inches apart. As soon as the seedlings have arrived at 

 the height of 3 or 4 inches, it will be necessary to thin them out to 

 about 9 inches from plant to plant, those left being as near a size as 

 possible. Transplanting those taken up, they may be planted about 

 the same distance from each other, and have a thorough watering to 

 settle the soil about them, as well as good waterings whenever the 

 weather is very dry. "When the seedlings are about a year and a 

 half old — that is to say, about the end of October of the year after 

 sowing — they ought to be transplanted into well-prepared rich soil, 

 where they ought to get as much room as possible, say 4 feet between 

 the rows and 2 feet in the rows, and let the rows, if possible, run north 

 and south, so as to receive the maximum benefit from the heat of the 

 sun. Those seedlings which were transplanted when a few inches high, 

 will probably neither be so strong nor so good as those which were 

 allowed to remain where sown ; therefore they will in all probability 

 require to be cut back in proportion to their strength — that is to say, 

 weak ones furthest, stronger ones not so much. If, however, they are 



