■WARD ON DWABF PEARS. 



kinds suited to tlie quince ? wore the pears budded on American quince stocks ? 

 Or, was tlic quince stock, as a base for pear cultivation, a faihirc ? Tlie united 

 testimony of tlicsc unl)iassed <i;ontlonicn, who had the ])loasurc of tlie doctor's 

 courteous reception and attendance throutrh his grounds, was against his theory 

 and conclusions, and, as two of them have infornuMl me, they found abundant 

 testimony in favor of the quince stock in his own grounds, and that the doctor's 

 treatment of his trees had violated all the laws governing the growth of pear on 

 quince roots. 



First. The trees were originally planted with the (piince stock from two to four 

 inches above the ground. Second. The conical, low-branched form had been ne- 

 glected, and ordinary standard trees had been attempted, which would account 

 for the doctor's complaint that they blew down, breaking off at the juncture of 

 the pear and quince. 



That, moreover, these gentlemen had ventured the observation (in reply to the 

 doctor's objection to the quince stock) that his best Vicars were on the quince. 

 " Oh," said the doctor, " that is an exception." " ]Jut your Duchesse are splen- 

 did on quince." "Another excejjtion," replies the doctor. "But your Louise 

 ]jonne, your — etc." "Exceptions — all exceptions," was the reply; and so on 

 through the list of nearly all the jiears which experienced pomologists claim as 

 superior on the quince. From this I deduced these two facts : that the doctor 

 failed, where he had failed, from ignorance of the imperative laws governing the 

 growth of pear on quince ; and that his success, where he had success, was on 

 the much abused quince stock. 



These, Mr. Editor, are the sum and substance of my remarks, in which none of 

 the discourteous terms reported were used. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I looked upon Dr. Ward's published essays as just and fair 

 subjects for criticism. If they are true, and experience will establish their sound- 

 ness, I shall be the doctor's most earnest disciple, as I am seeking for truth, and 

 desire nothing else. Now, will you indulge me in a very brief synopsis of the 

 causes of success and failure of experiments of pear on quince stocks ? I have 

 three acres of light, sandy loam, U])on which I have carted two feet, in depth, of 

 soil from the adjacent streets of Brooklyn. The thirty inches of soil have been 

 trenched and mixed with a fair dressing of compost, on one-half of the ground, 

 the other half only fairly worked with the plough, and the same manuring for 

 comparative experiments of growth and fruiting. On the first one and a half 

 acres, I have (two, three, and four years ])lanted) two thousand pear-trees, five 

 feet each way for the two and three years planted trees, and (10 feet l)y 5) ten feet 

 by five for the four years planted. I commenced planting the quince stock seven 

 years since, but, from inex})erience, met the same difficulties narrated by the doc- 

 tor, discovered the cause, and rejected the whole stock of eight hundred and seventy 

 trees, and commenced de novo. I was not a nurseryman, and rather think the 

 fraternity would not own me now for one, though I have sold a few trees, to help 

 pay the expenses of my hobby until it will pay for itself And now, sir, with an 

 abundant and most satisfactory success before me, with a growth, healthiness, and 

 productiveness which surpasses ray expectations, I feel able safely to pronounce 

 on the necessities for success, and the causes of my failure, 



Mrst. My first trees were budded on American quince stocks, and, if the doc- 

 tor obtained his trees prior to 1850, they were, almost beyond doubt, defective 

 in that important respect. 



Second. The pear was budded high on the quince, and, in great submission to 

 gma, " Plant your trees no deeper than they grew in the nursery," they 

 th the quince two to six inches above ground. 



