ADVANTAGES OF THE QUINCE AS A STOCK. 133 



deeply, so as to allow the pear stock to root, it is no 

 ' new tiling with the intelligent Colonel,' for he has 

 always practiced this system — a fact w^ell known to 

 his Ohio friends, and to every one who has visited his 

 grounds. 



" Mr. Stoms asks : ' Why graft on the quince stock 

 at all V 



" Answej' : To obtain ' early fruiting,' and the 

 pleasure and profit of regular crops, for many years, 

 before the trees would produce fruit on their own 

 stock. 



"Again, he inrpires : 'Will the Pear, under the 

 circumstances he (Mr. Wildek) describes, (that is, 

 rooting from the pear stock) continue to be a dwarf T 



" Answer : JSTo ; nor do we desire that it should ; 

 for, having commenced fruiting and furnished itself 

 with fruit-spurs, it will continue to bear, whether on 

 the pear or quince root, or on both ; and, as to ' longe- 

 vity,' it is generally admitted that the more roots a 

 tree has, the greater will be its strength, and the 

 longer its duration of life. 



" Hence we plant the tree deep enough to allow it 

 to root from the pear stock, and thus we kept the 

 quince stock soft and emollient, also, causing it to 

 swell evenly with the pear, and to emit roots through- 

 out its stem, which it will do, if kept below the sur- 

 face of the soil. 



" Mr. Stoms farther says : ' Wlien the friends of 

 dwarf pear tree culture shall come forward, and, with 

 ' bill of particulars,' show me an orchard of live hun- 

 dred dwarf pear trees, that have been ten years 



