200 



JOUBNAL OF nOBTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



[ SapUmbar 9, 18M. 



sojonro, I saw these bulbs with vigoroas sboota and spikes of 

 bloom. 



The plan adopted by M. Soucbet witb tbe young bulblots or 

 spawn ia to place them, nben taken ofl, in dry eand, and leave 

 them tbuB until the fpring. Tbe sand is tlien gradually moist- 

 ened until tbe outer coat begins to soften, and tbey are tben 

 planted or f own io rows, almost like Onions in drills. VVbore the 

 time and space can be given to tbem, it is bettor to place tbem 

 in pots first, and tben to plant tbem out afterwards. liot in 

 trntb, in tbe matter of cultivation, I do not tbink tbat we are 

 mncb bebiodband, and am inclined to fiucy tbat, taking tbe 

 Bamo varieties, Mr. Kelway could exbibit as good a stand as 

 M. Soucbet. One tbing I remarked, tbat a larger number of 

 blooms were on tbe truss, generally speaking, tban witb us, 

 bat tbis, I tbink, is to be attributed in part to tbe warmer 

 climate ; for I notice even bere tbat in sunny weatber one gets 

 longer spikes in bloom than when tbe weatber is cloudy and 

 cold. 



I sball have more to say of tbe Gladiolus at home next 

 week.— D., Deal. 



STOCKS FOR FRUIT TREES-THE PORTUGAL 

 AND ANGERS QUINCES. 



It is really an act of kindness in Mr. J. Scott (see page 103) 

 to give one an opportunity of going into — " ventilating " — this 

 trifling subject, and it is much to be regretted tbat be has for 

 so many years laboured under a mistake as to these kinds of 

 Quinces, for it seems almost probable tbat be has neither one 

 nor the other true to name, by which he must have been a 

 great loser; still, it may be only bis climate that has changed 

 the nature of the Angers Quince. It was about the year 18.!1, 

 that on reading Mr. R. Thompson's remarks on the Portugal 

 Quince in the "Catalogue" of the Horticultural Society, and 

 especially his recommendation of it as a stock fit for the Pear, 

 tbat I was induced to procure some grafts of tbe sort from tbe 

 garden at Chiswick. This variety proved larger than tbe com- 

 mon Quince, and a free grower ; but, as 1 soon learnt from a 

 Lisbon friend, it was not the true sort. This I soon procured 

 from some source, and have now for many years grown it 

 as the only kind of Quince worthy of cultivation for its fruit. 

 It is not unfavourable as a stock for tbe Pear, but, at least bere, 

 it does not form so good a stock as the Angers Quince, nor can 

 it ever be used to any great extent, for it does not strike freely 

 from cuttings, but must be propagated by budding or layering. 

 This quality tells against its use. for a hundred thousand Angers 

 Quince stocks could be raised in the period reqoired to raise 

 onfl thousand Portugal Quinces. 



With respect to tbe Angers Quince not being hardy with Mr. 

 Scott, it may be operated upon by tbe warm nursing nature of 

 the Somersetshire climate making it almost an evergreen ; 

 here, in our cold, dry air, it is as hardy as tbe Oak, and never 

 suffers from frost or wet. In France it is employed as a stock 

 for the Pear to a very large extent. 



As Mr. Scott may not know its history, it will, I hope, be 

 grateful to him it I narrate it. Some time between IS.SO and 

 1835 I visited Angers, and in the lioute de Paris, near tbe 

 town, I observed a large nursery, called " Le Grand Jardin." 

 Soon after my arrival I made my way to it, and was much 

 gratified at its extent and witb its venerable proprietor, uncle 

 to tbe present M. Andre Leroy ; he was a grand old gentleman, 

 lull of intelligence. Among the subjects we discussed was tbat 

 of Quince stocks, as I wished to learn which be considered the 

 best. I forget now what passed, but it ended in his sending 

 me three or four sorts of Quinces, one of which was tbe Cog- 

 nassier d'Angere, or Angers Quince. In a short time I found 

 this variety more succulent tban the Quince stocks I had re- 

 ceived from Paris, swelling with the graft, and making tbe 

 healthiest trees. From tbat period to the present I have never 

 deviated from this opinion, and from the single tree sent to me 

 by M. Leroy I have propagated hundreds of thousands, which 

 have been widely dispersed in America and elsewhere. With 

 skill it can be propagated by cuttings, but these require careful 

 cultivation. One hundred thousand per annum are grown here. 

 There is another variety of Quince, approaching tbe Angers in 

 •vigour, with leaves more glossy, but its tissues harder ; tbis is 

 tbe DouC Quince. After propagating it for some years, it bss 

 given way to the Angers, which is to a certainly the best of all. 



Tbe leaves of the four sorts of Quinces measure as follows ; 

 — Tie Portugal Quince, 3 to 3J inches in width; tbe Angers 

 and Doufi Quinces, 2 inches ; the Paris Quince, Ij. The I'or- 

 tngal Quince is remarkable for the thick coat of light fawn- 



coloured down on tbe nnder snrfsce of its lesveB. It is the 



most free-bearing of all, and if planted against a sontb wall, 

 gives superb fruit. Pears budded on it do well enough, but not 

 better tban those budded on the Angers Quince. Tbe last 

 batch budded on this stock, some fifteen years tince, did not 

 make such vigorous, healthy trees as those budded alongside of 

 them on tbe Angers Quince. 



Tbe Nain vert (Dwarf Green) Pear, mentioned in page 166, 

 was raised from seed in France, and fruited for tbe first time 

 about 1810. It is agreat curiosity, for like tbe Dwarf Elm, Ulmns 

 montana nana, it seldom or never makes shoots more than 

 from 2 to 3 inches long in one season, even when grafted on a 

 vigorous-growing Pear stock, like tbe Dwarf Elm when grafted 

 on Ulmus montana. As with it, when double grafted, it does 

 not dwarf tbe graft to any extent, but something like the 

 Blenheim Pippin when double grafted on the Uawthomden 

 Apple grafted on the Crab, it has some effect in moderating the 

 habit of a vigorous-growing variety. It would seem that the 

 tissue of these dwarf trees is changed when need as inter- 

 mediate stocks. By a vigorous graft tbe cells are possibly rup- 

 tured by tbe suction of the graft, for if a common kind of 

 Peach is budded on tbe Dwarf Oil ana Peach, which rarely 

 grows more tban 3 inches in one season, tbe stock does not 

 dwarf the sort budded on it, as do the Rurfacc-rooting Paradise 

 and Quiuce stocks the Apple and tie Pear, for both the dwarf 

 Peach and dwarf Pear root deeply in the soil. 



If seedlings are raised from tbe Nain vert Pear they adhere 

 to a great extent to the habit of the parent ; but, I repeat, 

 owing to their rooting deeply, it is not probable tbey will form 

 dwarfing stocks. To think of raiding seedlings of Nain vert 

 Pears, to graft with Pears for a commercial object, is a "chateau 

 en Espagne." My tree of Nain vert is some ten or twelve 

 years old, is about 3 feet in height, is full of fair-sized green 

 fruit, not bad, but not good. 



To diverge from Quinces and Pears to the Apple, I may, 

 perhaps, be allowed to mention tbat last spring I planted a 

 border of a rather stiff, clayey soil with fifteen kinds of Para- 

 dise stocks, including tbe Doncin ; for the most part a row of 

 stocks and a row of Apple trees, grafted on tbe stock nnder 

 observation. Four of these are Dutch stocks, imported last 

 spring. One among tbem is tbe Creeping Paradise, mentioned 

 by Miller. They are all of inferior quality, and the latter in 

 particular is a pestilent thing, a^ it throws out suckers from its 

 roots. Two kinds of English Paradise stock?, one from Mr. 

 Waterer, of Knap Hill, and one from Mr. Pearson, seem 

 nearly identical, and as good as stocks can be. Three are 

 varieties of the French Paradise (Pommier de Paradis)— one 

 from Dou£ on the Loire, which seems healthy, one from tbe 

 neighbourhood of Paris, which, as has always been the case 

 here, whether planted in light or stiff soils, has failed, all the 

 stocks being leafless and cankered ; still, I should note tbat 

 some of the same batch of stocks, potted in liubt mould, have 

 done well, the pots standing on tbe surface, but moulded np 

 with cocoa fibre. These little trees, grafted in pots, make 

 pretty bushes, but they are not more fertile than those grafted 

 on the Nonesuch Paradise, for I have to-day seen a tree grafted 

 on this stock, only "J inches high, with three full-sized Apples 

 on it, and hundreds of trees, from 12 to 15 inches in height, 

 smothered with fruit. What more can we want? My third 

 variety of Pommier de Paradis is one received from Mr. Scott. 

 It has more vigour than the other two, and is the best of the 

 three sorts. Last spring, when the stock mania was rife, I 

 sent Mr. Scott some fine young Apple trees, gralied on my two 

 kinds of Paradise stock, the Broad-leaved and the Nonesuch, 

 begping bis acceptance of tbem, and requesting him to send 

 me in return two or three trees grafted on bis kind of stock. 

 I regret that, owing as I suppose to hia being deeply immersed 

 in business, he neither acknowledged my civil ruts, nor sent 

 me tbe trees, and so I procured some through a friend, who 

 ordered them and sent them to me. 



With respect to tbe sale cf Pears for double grafting in 

 France, tbis is a comparatively modern practice. A member 

 of tbe firm which sells them, worked bere some jeirs ago to 

 learn our language and our ways. Tbe trees offered are of all 

 kinds, such as have not been sent out for orders. I bought 

 some once, and only or.ce — in truth, they are rot worth car- 

 riage. Budding the Apricot on seeilling Apricots requires skill 

 and care. It is now many years since I saw a wall covered 

 with Moorpark Apricot trees of my own budding; they were 

 budded on seedling Apricots. Tlieir aspect to me was very in- 

 teresting, for instead of the strong pleihntio habit < f tbe same 

 sort budded on the Plum stock, which tbe owner of the garden 



