MANAGEMENT OF PEARS. 



69 



ard pear trees, from eight to ten years old ; 

 these terminate long rows of standards, left 

 to grow as nature dictates, both root and 

 branch, except occasional thinnings of their 

 heads. These, it must be recollected, are 

 among my root-pruned specimen trees, a 

 great number of which are from twelve to 

 fifteen years old. They have had their 

 roots pruned three times within these eight 

 years, the last time in December, 1844. 

 They are now full of health and foliage 

 and fruit ; in fact, all that I can wish them 

 to be. The standard trees, with roots un- 

 pruned, have their leaves yellow, and are, 

 I fear, hastening to death. 



I now proceed to give a list of such sorts 

 of pears that, on my soil, are decidedly 

 higher in flavor when grafted on the quince, 

 and not (as your correspondent almost ludi- 

 crously says, "partaking of the flavor of 

 the quince.") Pray, have you or Mr. 

 Thompson ever ate a quince-flavored pear ? 

 i. e. a pear having such a flavor from being 

 grafted on the quince, (as I well know there 

 are many pears with a very odd flavor.) 

 Does the Ribstone Pippin taste of the Crab 

 because it is grafted upon it ? Does the 

 Peach acquire the flavor of the Mussel plum 

 .because it is budded upon it ? Does the 

 Greengage ever taste sour and austere ? 

 and yet it is almost invariably grafted upon 

 the common Wild Plum, which is uneata- 

 ble, from its peculiar astringent acidity. I 

 do hope, for the credit of your paper, that 

 your correspondent is not your " Constant 

 Reader." To return to my list, I must first 

 premise that every sort of pear is, as far as 

 my experience at present goes, improved by 

 being worked upon the quince ; but the fol- 

 lowing, in List I., are remarkable for grow- 

 ing freely on the quince, in most soils, 

 without being double worked, bearing large 

 fruit, of the highest flavor : 



UST r. 



25. Ix>uise Boiuie de Jersey. 



20. Na|)oleon. 



27. Passe Colmar. 



2S. Poire Clienille. 



2'J. Princess Royal (Groom.) 



30. St. Denis. 



31. St. Germain 



:ii. Van Mons' Leon le Clerc. 

 3.3. Vicar ot" Wnikfield. 

 I34. Wilhelniina. 



D'.Amanlis according to most French authors; D'Amalis 

 according to llorticuUural Catalogue of Fruits. 



There are many other sorts that I feel al- 

 most assured, will do equally well on the 

 quince stock as the above. I forbear to add 

 them till I am fully convinced by proving 

 them. 



No. 3. Of this I ate my best specimens 

 about the middle of last April ; they were 

 vinous, juicy and delicious, from plants on 

 the quince. Specimens from plants on the 

 pear stock, kept only till the end of Febru- 

 ary. 



No. 5. This pear seldom ripens well from 

 trees on the pear stock ; on the quince, the 

 fruit are larger, more handsome, of perfect 

 flavor, and they invariably ripen well. 



No. 6. On the pear stock here, (it must 

 be borne in mind, that I am always refer- 

 ring to trees in the open quarters, not wall 

 trees,) this is a most crab-like pear, bear- 

 ing but very seldom, and never ripening : 

 on the quince it bears well, is of high fla- 

 vor, and always ripens in April and May ; 

 it is, however, inclined to be gritty at the 

 core, and this at present is the only pear I 

 have found to be so from the quince stock. 



No. 19. This is a perfect crab from trees 

 on the pear stock ; from the quince it is very 

 melting and juicy, and really a good small 

 late pear. I ate my last and only specimen 

 this day. May 26. 



No. 21. Grows freely here on the pear 

 stock, and blooms freely, yet seldom bears 

 any clear fruit ; they are generally full of 

 spots, and often do not ripen at all kindly. 

 On the quince stock it bears clear handsome 

 fruit, Avhich invariably ripen, and are very 

 highly flavored. 



No. 23. On my finest soil here, a tender 

 loam six feet in depth, subsoil sand, this 

 sort always cankers, and very seldom pro- 

 duces any good fruit ; in short, it is a very 

 shy bearer when on the pear stock ; on the 

 quince it grows freely, and bears most abun- 

 dantly ; fruit fine and clear, and of high 

 flavor. 



No. 25. This, of all the pears I know, is 

 most benefitted by working on the quince. 

 My specimen tree, on a pear stock, now 

 twelve years old, has scarcely borne a dozen 

 good clear fruit, and some standards of near. 



