26 



CULTURE OF THE PEAR ON THE QUINCE STOCK. 



if perfection is wished for, must be followed ; 

 the trees carefully planted, so that the 

 junction of the graft with the stock is even 

 with the surface of the mound formed as 

 directed for pyramids. Careful annual root 

 pruning with the knife will leave scarcely 

 anything to be done in that way with the 

 branches of the trees ; but if they put forth 

 shoots inclined to vigor, these, after Mr. 

 Thompson's method at the Horticultural 

 Society's gardens, may have their points 

 cut off in June,* and towards the end of 

 August be shortened to within two or three 

 buds of their base. For fine specimens of 

 wall pear trees grafted on the quince, I 

 may refer to those on the west wall of the 

 Horticultural Society's gardens ; these are 

 now about twenty-five years old, and are 

 pictures of health and fertility; thus at 

 once settling the question respecting the 

 early decay of pear trees grafted on the 

 quince ; for it has been often, very often, 

 urged as an objection to the use of the 

 quince stock, that pears grafted on it, are, 

 although prolific, but very short lived. I 

 have seen trees in France more than fifty 

 years old, and those above referred to may 

 be adduced to confute this error. My ob- 

 ject is to improve the culture of fruit trees 

 in small gardens, and to those conversant 

 with such matters, I need only point to the 

 very numerous instances of rich garden 

 ground, entirely ruined by being shaded 

 by large spreading standard, or half-stan- 

 dard unpruned fruit trees. Now, by culti- 

 vating pyramidal pears on the quince — ap- 

 ples in the same form on the paradise 

 stock — the cherry as dwarf bushes on the 

 Cerasus Mahaleb — and the plum as a pyra- 

 midal tree — scarcely any ground is shaded, 

 and more abundant crops and finer fruit 

 will be obtained. 



* A correspondent in Gardener's Chronicle, No. 42, 1848, 

 recommends stripping off the leaves from these shoots during 

 summer to within three or four buds of their base. This 

 seems to me an excellent idea. 



ROOT PRUNING OF FEAR TREES ON QUINCE 

 STOCKS. 



Before entering on the subject of root 

 pruning of pear trees on quince stocks, I 

 must premise that handsome and fertile py- 

 ramids, more particularly of some free bear- 

 ing varieties, may be reared without this 

 annual, biennial, or triennial operation. I 

 have a large plantation of pear trees on the 

 quince stock, which bid fair to make very 

 handsome and fertile pyramids, yet they 

 have not been root-pruned, neither do I in- 

 tend to prune them ; but I wish to impress 

 upon my readers, that my principal object 

 is to make trees fit for small gardens, and 

 to instruct those who are not blessed with a 

 large garden, how to keep their trees "in 

 hand," and this can best be done by an- 

 nual attention to their roots, for if a tree is 

 suffered to grow two, three, or more years, 

 and then root pruned, it will receive a 

 check if the spring be dry, and the crop of 

 fruit for one season will be jeopardized; 

 therefore, those who are disinclined to the 

 annual operation, and yet wish to confine 

 the growth of their trees within limited 

 bounds by root pruning — say once in three 

 years — should only operate upon one-third 

 of their trees in one season ; they will thus 

 have two-thirds in an unchecked bearing 

 state, and those who have ample room and 

 space, may summer pinch their pyramids, 

 and suffer them to grow to a height of fif- 

 teen or twenty feet without pruning their 

 roots. I have seen avenues of such trees 

 in Belgium really quite imposing. 



Pyramidal pear trees on the quince stock, 

 where the fruit garden is small, and the 

 real gardening artist feels pleasure in keep- 

 ing them in a healthy and fruitful state, by 

 perfect control over the roots, should be 

 operated upon as follows: A trench should 

 be dug round the tree, about eighteen inches 

 from its stem, every autumn, just after the 



