1869.] ON GRAFTING OLD PEAR TREES. 1]3 



The thinning of the fruit should also be timely and well attended to. A person 

 of ray acquaintance has a nice young Victoria Plum-tree against his house. In 

 1867 the fruit set very thickly on it ; he was advised to thin it out well, and was 

 told if he neglected it, the tree could not possibly bear any fruit the following 

 year ; but he neglected it, and the result was that the fruit was so small it was 

 of little value, and the quantity was so great that it exhausted the tree so much 

 that the following (last) year there was not a single blossom upon it. This 

 neglect of thinning the fruit is the great evil in our orchard management. 



Amateurs who grow Vines up the rafters of their greenhouses must now attend 

 to them. The young shoots will require stopping and tying down. The shoots 

 should be stopped one or two joints beyond the fruit, and all laterals sent out 

 afterwards should be stopped beyond the first eye. The thinning of the berries 

 must also be attended to, as soon as they are fairly set. Much of the strength 

 of the Vine is lost when the berries are allowed to get to a large size before they 

 are thinned. It is also much more difficult to thin them properly, when they 

 have become grown so closely together ; besides which, the appearance of the berries 

 is the more likely to suffer from handling them at an advanced stage of growth. 

 Stourton. M. Saul. 



ON GRAFTING OLD PEAR TREES. 



[T the commencement of the present century, when the number of good 

 varieties of Pears grown in this country was rather limited, those which 

 were then considered the best were most generally planted in the gardens 

 of the nobility and gentry ; and where the soil has been suitable, many of 

 these trees have attained a large size, and on walls have taken up a great amount 

 of space, in many instances to very little purpose, as the bearing shoots are 

 generally at the extremities of the trees, while a large space in the centre is 

 unproductive. 



Now, trees of this class are invaluable as stocks for the many improved 

 varieties of the present day ; and thus, instead of the choice of fruits being 

 limited to three or four good old sorts, it may be extended to as many sorts as 

 there are side-shoots to graft upon. In this way, it would be easy from one tree 

 against a 12-ft. wall to have from twenty to thirty different sorts. There is no 

 more interesting object for the fruit cultivator to study, than the effect produced 

 by the gradual cutting back of such trees, and engrafting improved varieties upon 

 them. I have followed the practice here suggested for upwards of twenty years, 

 and it has lost none of its interest as I have gained experience. Moreover, by 

 this method, a great saving of time may be effected in the proving of different 

 sorts, as they come into bearing much sooner when thus grafted than on young 

 trees planted out, while if they are found to be in any way unsuitable, they 

 may be cut back and regrafted the next season. 



The mode of working is simple enough, and may be so gradually carried 



