1S69.] THE QUINCE STOCK. 363 



little leaf-mould. Primulas require lighter soil, with a little peat 

 if it can be had : a frame kept facing the north will still suit them 

 till the season advances. Keep down green -fly among Cinerarias 

 and Calceolarias by the use of tobacco smoke judiciously used, so 

 that the foliage may not be injured. M. T. 



THE QUINCE STOCK. 



It is with much pleasure that I lift up my pen to make answer to Mr 

 Simpson's article on the above subject (see May number of the ' Gar- 

 dener,' page 230). I am glad that he has procured for me this oppor- 

 tunity of more fully explaining one of the principal points referred to in 

 my articles upon the Pear. He was right in surmising, as my articles 

 clearly indicate, that I ''would only be guided by considerations of 

 soil and climate in adopting it [the Quince stock], in preference to the 

 Pear, for standards or pyramids." Considerations of soil and climate 

 I consider to be the first points to be studied by the gardener who has 

 a desire to arrive at right conclusions regarding either the fruit, flower, 

 or vegetable garden. The gardener who fails to consider these, and 

 bring them to bear upon his everyday operations, cannot claim 

 credit for any good results which may be arrived at, as they are the 

 productions of mere chance, the soil and climate deserving all the 

 praise. Change such a one to a diflferent place or position, and the 

 results will be very different : he. having only the mechanical knowledge, 

 will work away in his own mechanical way ; while he who has the 

 theoretical, the practical, and the scientific all combined and finely 

 blended together, will be able to arrive at much better conclusions, 

 produce more regular results, and will be a man who will succeed, 

 place him where you will. 



I believe more men fail with the Pear upon the Quince, for the 

 simple reason that they fail to perceive that a very difi"erent mode of 

 treatment is necessary for the one than the other. It is no uncommon 

 thing to hear a gardener say, " Well, I have discarded the Quince 

 stock as useless. I planted a number of them with a number worked 

 upon the Pear side by side ; they all received the same treatment, and 

 the end of it is, I would not see them about the place !" Now this is 

 exactly what I find fault with. Such gardeners belong to the same 

 class as those quack doctors, who will not be loath to make you 

 believe that they can give a box of pills, or some other trash, which 

 will cure humanity of all the iUs to which it is heir. Let the 

 gardener who plants Pears upon the Quince understand that he has 



