128 THE PEAK UPOIT THE QUE^CE STOCK. 



DoTS^'ixG, inXewburg ; Dr. Geant, near Peekskill ; Mr. 

 Reid, Elizabetlitown, ]^. J. ; and many others, cultivate 

 tlie Pear on the quince stock with the best results. 

 At Mr. Chas. Downing's, where every fruit and flower 

 is cultivated in perfection, the surface of the ground 

 in the dwarf orchards is covered with straw, refuse 

 hay, &c., and no care noi* cultivation is required ; no 

 weeds find their way through that carpet, renewed or 

 supplied witli new straw or brush every two or three 

 years. Mr. Downes^g seems to be perfectly satisfied 

 with his system, and indeed he must be. 



" In conclusion, let me say, that when one expects to 

 reap the fruit of industry, he needs to give the proper 

 attention to it ; if he expects a fruit-tree to yield crops 

 of the most refined fruit, and to grow as a maple or a 

 cedar in the woods, he is badly mistaken. The old 

 saying, that " a tree must take care of itself," is non- 

 sense, when applied to fruit-trees of improved kinds. 

 It would do as well to plant dahlias ov prairie roses 

 in a swamp, or among thistles and briars. 



^ He who wants large crops of pears, indifi'erent in 

 size or quality, may plant all his trees on the pear 

 stock, in deep soil ; but he has to wait from ten to 

 fifteen years. If you want large, fine fruit, which, in 

 fact, pays better, with less trouble and expense, select 

 your varieties on the Quince. These will often bear 

 the first year, and always the third or fourth from their 

 planting. If I had thirty trees to j^lant, twenty should 

 be on the Quince, the balance on pear stock. 



" Some varieties will not grow upon the Quince, but 

 even these do well double worked — that is, budded or 

 grafted upon a variety worked already upon the 



