48 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



[ January 15, 1867. 



add, are twice as \vide and deep as I find necessary for plant- 

 ing orilinary-sized trees, such as those obtained from nurseries, 

 when the gruimd lias been properly trenched ))reviously to 

 plantinp. la trenched ground, all the hole that need be made 

 is one wide enough to admit the roots without turning their 

 points up, down, or aside against its sides ; and it is deep enough 

 if it allows of the fibres being covered with 3 inches of soil. 

 If " T. E." finds a hole 20 inches deep necessary to plant a 

 Pear on the Quince stock, I must say he plants much deeper 

 than I do, or his ground is of that uncultivated and unprepared 

 character as to require holes " 9 feet square " in addition. 



" T. K.'s" other objection is to covering the junction of the 

 stock and scion with 3 inches of soil, for this, "as fully 

 pointed out in your columns last spring, pages 180, 193, leads 

 to injurious consequences, for, besides placing the tree by far 

 too deeply in the soil, it induces the putting forth of roots from 

 the graft, by which the effect of the Quince stock in giving 

 fertility is destroyed." Who, last spring, pointed out the in- 

 jurious consequences of covering the junction of the stock and 

 scion with soil ? " T. 11.!" His conclusions based solely on 

 his having some Louise Bonne Pears on the Quince rooting 

 from the part of the scion covered with soU, the trees ceasing 

 to be ijroductive, which would lead to the inference that Pears 

 on the Pear stock arc not so fruitful as those on the Quince 

 stock. Now, I have trees of the Louise Bonne on the Pear 

 stock, that annually produce heavy crops of fine fruit ; and we 

 have scores of trees, both on walls and in the open ground, on 

 Pear stocks, producing an abundance of fine fruit : hence it 

 follows that the Pear on the Pear stock may be fruitful. I 

 thought that the one great merit of the Quince, as a stock, was 

 in giving early fertility to the Pear, not greater or more ex- 

 tended fertility than the Pear stock'; but, if I understand 

 " T. R." aright, a Pear rooting from the part covered with soil, 

 it being worked on the Quince, ceases to be productive, to which 

 he should add. Unless the tree is not to be kept so dwarf and 

 stunted as it was before, and the soil is not favourable to the 

 fertility of the Pear on its own roots. In my soil it does not 

 in the least matter whether the Pear tree be fed by its own roots 

 or those of the Quince ; once it commences bearing it con- 

 tinues to crop well afterwards, and can be kept very dwarf by 

 a moderate amount of summer-pinching. The soil is a rather 

 light loam, about 15 inches deep, on gravel. On heavier and 

 deeper soil the Pear tree may root so deeply that the effect of 

 the Quince in giving fertility may be destroyed, for the Quince 

 has a more shallow disposition of roots than the Pear : hence the 

 tree rooting from the graft will have a tendency to wood growth 

 rather than the formation of fruit-buds, the good ofiices of the 

 Quince in giving a more dwarf growth being destroyed. 



" T. B." accepts as proven that a Pear tree covered with 

 soil above the junction of the stock and scion does root from 

 the latter. I must allow that I have seen that ; but I cannot 

 admit that it invariably occurs, for with some kinds of Pears 

 it is the exception rather than the rule, and is in most soils a 

 tardy process, though in some it may be general ; but such I 

 have not found, and I have had experience of Pears on Quince 

 stocks in six different soils and situations. 



When I find Pear trees on the Quince, with the junction of 

 the stock and scion covered with soil, rooting from the graft so 

 freely that their bearing, health, and longevity are interfered 

 with and impaired, I will gladly make a public recantation ; but 

 until then I must be excused covering a very ungainly swollen 

 junction, and exposing no part of the stock to the drying influ- 

 ences of the sun and air, but using it as a root-forming, conse- 

 quently food-collecting, medium. In the meantime '• T. R." 

 will, perhaps, inform us whether budded trees root as freely (or 

 at all), from the Pear as those that are grafted, and how soon 

 rooting may be expected to occur after the junction is covered 

 ■with soil. I have my own particular experiences on these 

 points, and reserve myself for confession at a fitting time and 

 place. 



" T. E." concludes with a recommendation. I may do so 

 likewise ; and it is — Should those having Pear trees on Quinco 

 stocks, with the swollen junction hidden by soil, perceive them 

 making an undue amount of wood not to be restrained by sum- 

 mer-pinching, lift these in autumn and plant them, after 

 searching carefully for roots from the Pear where covered with 

 soil, removing these, if any, so that the soil will reach only to 

 the swollen junction, and the trees will be as fruitful as ever ; and 

 if your soil is not unfavourable to the Pear, care nothing about 

 the roots from it, for no tree lives so long, is so healthy, or so 

 well fed as by its own roots ; also to gain fruitfulness, plant on 

 a raised mound, by which the roots will be kept near the surface, 



and one of the main advantages of having trees on Quince 

 stocks will be secured. 



Finally, though my stock of " Pear trees, old and young, on 

 Quince stocks," is not equal to that in " any other garden in 

 Europe," I have had sufficient experience to prove that I re- 

 commend a ■■iiiund, but I should not feel justified in considering 

 it " the only sound method of culture." Others have a right 

 to their conclusions, and experience is fully entitled to weight. 

 — G. Abi'by. 



OUR VINES. 



(Continued from jmijc 25.) 



Foe a long time we had looked forward to the fruiting-year 

 with great interest. Should we really have Grapes ? W^ould 

 those fine buds develope into bloom, or spend all their energies 

 in leaf and cane ? We could but wait and hope ; but we waited 

 with an eagerness only amateurs can feel. 



Our Vines broke in March, all but Lady Downe's, she put 

 forth shyly as if only half knowing what she meant to do ; but 

 then it did not matter much, for we knew she was a rampant 

 grower and took long strides. To our impatient waiting it 

 seemed as if the blossom would never show itself. After weeks 

 of anxious, almost hopeless inspection, the bloom made its ap- 

 pearance, at least what we thought would turn into bloom — a 

 round hard lump, like a great Cob nut, covered all over with 

 minute excrescences. Out of this lump we supposed the 

 bunch of Grapes would come ; but day after day we looked in 

 vain for any sign of progress. If there was any growth it 

 was all internal, did not manifest itKclf to our closest ob- 

 servation ; and yet the Vine was not idle, the work was going 

 on though we saw it not. After long waiting these little ex- 

 crescences seemed to part from each other, and form stalks 

 or stems of their own, so that as time passed the contour 

 of the future bunch was fully shown. But, then, were these 

 the very berries to enlarge into the future Grapes, or simply 

 the flowers which must first open before the fruit could foiTU ? 

 In our ignorance we did not know, could not make out. We 

 had grown Vines for years at South Field, or rather the gar- 

 dener had, yet could not remember ever having seen them in 

 this stage of growth. To be sure our pomological curiosity had 

 never carried us so high. AVe wearied ourselves trying to find 

 out from books, sought long, but the bit we wonted we could 

 not find. Cousin Herbert said the " whole lot of gardening 

 writers were donkeys ; they wrote for themselves so that they 

 might tell nothing but what was already known." Our Vine 

 doctor laughed and said, " Some things were so simple people 

 never thought to write about them" However, the question was 

 settled, the bloom had not yet opened, and it must do so before 

 any fruit could be. 



" It is my firm opinion there never will be any fruit," said 

 Cousin Herbert. 



" Well, I always said the Vine border was much too rich," 

 said Uncle Tetley ; " as George says, you will grow plenty of 

 coarse leaves minus fruit." 



"I do not reckon much on what George says," said papa; 

 " he is amazed at your success, and is afraid your Vines will 

 one day be better than his own. As for the Vine border being 

 too rich, what i^ it when they bury dead horses in it ? " 



" Disgusting in the highest degree," said Aunt Margaret ; " I 

 would never eat another Grape as long as I lived, if I thought 

 that was the usual practice." 



" Not very pleasant certainly to any one troubled with sugges- 

 tive ideas," said Cousin Walter. 



" But, what is to be done ?" said Cousin Herbert. " I would 

 not like to be without fruit this year. We have waited long 

 enough, never mind the canes whether they be thick enough; 

 or ripened enough, or strong enough, only let us have fruit." 



" Never mind what people say about your border," said our 

 Vine doctor very quietly. " 1 assure you it could not be better, 

 and I dare venture to say you will have half a score bunches 

 on every Vine. What is the good of putting yourself into such 

 a state, and keeping me in a perpetual fever by your doubts ? I 

 am half afraid I shall go over the line yet. Put on a little 

 more heat, do not open quite so soon, and shut up earlier, and 

 you will have fruit, fine fruit too, this year. The bloom wants 

 "a little petting to open, not that the flowers are very brilliant 

 or very fragrant, they are neither the Glory Pea of New Zea- 

 land, nor Stephanotis. It is only the after-results that make 

 the bloom of value." 



So Uncle Tetley would not have the house opened until much 

 later in the day; indeed, he would not have it opened- in 



