500 



inVART PEAR TREES. 



ficient, and the roots shoiilil l)o prevented 

 from extending to greater depth by forming 

 artificial floors, or placing broad flag stones 

 under them;" and he recommends pruning 

 the roots — which he says " is an old prac- 

 tico that does not appear to have been so 

 generally attended to as it deserves," not 

 only to check too vigorous growth and pro- 

 duce fruitfulness, but to prevent disease. 



From these and similar statements we 

 are led to believe that the disease may be 

 avoided in some localities by selecting pears 

 worked on quince instead of free stocks, 

 and that root pruning, systematically fol- 



lowed out, would be found highly bcnoli- 

 cial where the soil is very fertile and the 

 growth is excessively luxuriant. 



In propagating this fruit, no one should 

 utter complaint or be discouraged, though 

 its enemy is at times so destructive, so 

 little has as yet been done to guard 

 against its attacks. Let every experiment, 

 which promises a reasonable hope of suc- 

 cess, be faithfully tried, and we doubt not, 

 though entire protection may not be the re- 

 sult, that loss will be rendered much less 

 frequent, and comparatively of little conse- 

 quence. L. C. E. 



GRAPTIITG, PLANTING AND PRUNING OF DWARF PEAR TREES. 



By SAML. G. PERKINS, Esq., BOSTON. 



Regarding the cultivation of pears on quince 

 slocks, I may remark in the outset, that the 

 soft-fleshed or buttery pears are those that 

 are best suited to the quince bottoms, the 

 breaking or hard flesh being better suited 

 to the pear or free stock. 



In our climate, (New-England,) the 

 springs are too harsh, and the true summer 

 period generally too short to ripen pears, and 

 some other fruits, sufficiently for autumn 

 and winter use. The warmest and most 

 sheltered positions, therefore, in your garden, 

 should be selected for your winter pears, 

 particularly for the Easter Beiirre, Chau- 

 montel, Winter Nelis, Glout Morceau, St. 

 Gerviain, Passe Colmar, and Napoleon. 



If you receive your young rooted cuttings 

 or layers of quince in the spring, it may be 

 well to graft them before you plant them, 

 if you have a convenient place under cover, 

 where the operation can be performed, by 

 a single person, on several hundred in a 

 day. The scions should be put within two 

 or three inches of the collar where the up- 



per roots start out so as to enable you to 

 bury the wounded portion of the graft be- 

 low the ground. This is usually preferable 

 to grafting them after they are planted, as 

 it may be both easier and more correctly 

 done, as well as much more quickly per- 

 formed. I have frequently grafted young 

 pear stocks in this manner, and found them 

 to succeed perfectly. When these trees 

 have attained a proper size, in the nursery, 

 to be planted out where they are to remain 

 to produce fruit, be careful to have them 

 placed on the highest ground, and not in 

 hollows, where the water can lodge. 



Some cultivators think it best to dig large 

 holes under the spot where the trees are to 

 be set, filled with rich soil, but I think this 

 is a mistake ; for, if there be any evil arising 

 from the roots being confined within a hole 

 surrounded by a hard pan, which will keep 

 the Avater from passing ofT, the evil is net 

 avoided by putting the tree over and above 

 the hole ; for if the soil in this cavity be 

 richer than that which is above its borders, 



