Fortunately for science, I have found the number, "page 500, vol. xxii.," and 

 here it is, the whole of it, being the editor's comments on the communication of a 

 correspondent : — 



A more satisfactory answer to the tirade of nonsense which is going the rounds of the 

 papers in reference to the cultivation of "dwarf pears," viz., the pear upon the quince, 

 could not well be given. It is to the point, and coining as it does from one who is amply- 

 able, after many years of observation in France and Belgium, where the pear has so long 

 been cultivated, as well as in our own country, to give an opinion, will have the influence 

 to which its sound common sense duly entitles it. 



It is one of the most serious drawbacks to all progress in horticultural art, especially in 

 our country, that so much empiricism is mixed up with a thorough scientific knowledge of 

 cultivation ; that those who do not know the first principles of a science should attempt to 

 teach those who have made it a life-long study. It is from this fact that such contradictory 

 statements are constantly made, which mystify the new beginner, lead him astray, and 

 force him to rely on his own experience, often dearly bought, and always with great loss of 

 time. With so much apparent information before him, and without the necessary know- 

 ledge to enable him to decide where the truth lies, he adopts first one course of culture and 

 then another, until at last, if his zeal holds out, he finds at his cost that he has been following 

 the visionary notions of some fancy theorist, rather than the true principles of horticultural 

 science. 



This attempt to write down the quince stock is a sample of a thousand similar attt^mpts 

 in the literature of gardening to assail some of the soundest principles of physiological 

 science, and practical art ; and it will end, as all similar attempts have, in more thoroughly 

 convincing those who resort to the proper sources of information, how egregiously they 

 have been deceived in following the notions of those who write well enough, or criticize 

 wonderfixUy wise, but whose i^ractice is as barren as some of the ideas which they attempt 

 to advance. 



It is not really, at this late day, worth while to waste time and paper to attempt to con- 

 trovert such statements as our correspondent briefly reviews in his excellent article ; at 

 least we have not thought so. Those who can be induced to believe them, must know 

 but very little of the experience of the past, or be sadly deficient in that knowledge which 

 everyone must possess to be a successful cultivator. 



We are ready to admit that tlie quince has been brought into unjust repute by the prac- 

 tice of some inexperienced nurserymen, who recommend many varieties which ivill not 

 succeed upon that stock ; but this is the exception to the rule,* and is acknowledged by all 

 who fully appreciate its usefulness. 



In conclusion, we need only refer to an article in a previous volume (xvii. p. 385). upon 

 the cultivation of the pear upon the quince stock, in which our views are fully expiessed, 

 and satisfactory evidence adduced to show its very great value in the culture of tiiis deli- 

 cious fruit. Subsequent experience has more fully confirmed the opinions recorded in the 

 volume referred to. — Ed. 



This is but a recent flare up, Mr. Editor; it is only so late as Noveral.ier, 185G. 

 Let us see how times cliange, and we with them. The refutation of the al)ove 

 appears iu July, 1857, reminding one of the parody of Shakspeare — 



" And the funeral baked meats 

 Served for the wedding dinner. 



Now let us hear Mr. Hovey's opinion from his own pen, and in his own Maga- 

 zine of July, 1857 : — 



Were it not for the amateur cultivators, who send their surplus crop to market, it would 

 be ditficult to procure superior fruit, notwithstanding the very high price which it alwaj's 

 commands. Fortunately, the fine specimens which have occasionally been ofl'er(?d, have 

 shown to what perfection our best fruits may be grown ; and those who can i)rorit by 

 example have done so, and fine specimens, though by no means abundant, are less so than ' 

 formerly. \ We can only hope that continued attention to the rearing and management of 



* Compare this with the subsequent article in which Mr. II. says quite the reverse, if 

 uage means anything. — Q. 

 And what," said Mr. Hovey, only in May last, page 212, "is the result of the 



