356 Notes and Gleanings. 



throat. The plant is of very free-flowering habit, and will therefore be an acqui- 

 sition. It is a summer flowerer. 



We owe its introduction, as that of so many other choice novelties, to the 

 Messrs. Veitch and Sons, of Chelsea, who obtained it from Bolivia, through 

 their collector, Mr. Pearce. It flowered for the first time in June, 1868, when it 

 was exhibited, and gained the Royal Horticultural Society's prize medal, as the 

 finest new plant shown in flower. y)/., in Florist and Pomologist. 



How TO RAISE New Pears. — I feel that I can recommend to the young 

 pomologist no occupation more interesting than that of raising pear trees from 

 the pips of our finer kinds of pears. The operation is very simple, for he has 

 only to save the pips of a favori::e pear, and at once to plant them in a flower- 

 pot, say six inches in diameter, filled with fresh mould, using his finger and 

 thumb so as to press them into the mould to the depdi of an inch, and in the 

 centre of the pot, in a circle four or five inches in diameter ; the pot should then 

 be plunged in sawdust or cocoa-nut fibre, and the surface of the mould covcied 

 to the depth of three or four inches with the same material. Early in March 

 this should be removed, and the young trees will soon mak-e their appearance. 

 To add to the interest of these young things, a label should be placed in the 

 pot at the time of sowing, stating the name of the pear whence the pips were 

 taken. In the month of April the young plants may be potted singly into small 

 pots ; when they are fully established, they may be planted into a rich border, 

 about a foot apart ; they will make vigorous growth, and after two years may be 

 planted where they are to remain till they show symptoms of coming into bear- 

 ing. This final planting should give a distance of from three to four feet apart. 



1 have to-day (January 20) amused myself with looking over my numerous 

 sieedling pear trees, from one to twenty-five years old. There are many hun- 

 dreds of them, yet no two are exactly alike, either in foliage or shoots. It is, 

 however, the latter that we must, at this bare and lifeless season of the year, 

 look at and find some interest in, for there is not a thorn or a twig but has some 

 interest in it to the eye of the cultivator. It is also gratifying to observe, or to 

 fancy you can observe, n'importe which, the marks of race in seedling pear 

 ti-ees. My attention, this morning, was first called to a row of seedlings, about a 

 dozen, from the Chaumontel pear, from unfertiHzed * flowers, the trees five years 

 old. Now, in this row the mark of race is apparent, as there is a sort of family 

 resemblance ; yet every tree differs in minute characters, one being thorny, 

 another without thorns, and so on. The next two rows are trees raised from 

 Williams's Bon Chretien, the flowers also unfertilized. These trees are most 

 robust and distinct, with yellowish bark, prominent buds, erect habit, and alto- 

 gether a most marked and distinct race, with some curious exceptions, such as 

 two or three being formidable thorny bushes, and one or two of delicate growth. 

 1 confess to having a leaning to thorny seedling pears, they look so robust and 

 independent, and they generally produce the best fruit ; this is, I think, contrary 

 to some continental theory, which has now passed away. The next batch of 

 seedlings are from Williams's Bon Chretien, from flowers fertilized with pollen 



* This term is used throughout in the sense of not fertilized artificially. 



