PEARS. 43 



being unfit for any other use than to be budded with 

 known sorts. New varieties, says Van Mons, are 

 more likely to be obtained from the seeds of new, 

 than of old cultivated sorts. Among the extended 

 varieties of this fruit, it is rather difficult, (under all 

 circumstances) to select those which are the best for 

 cultivation. We have, however, ventured to admit 

 into our list of outlines, those which, from observa- 

 tion and the opinion of friends, as well as our own 

 limited experience, we could safely recommend as 

 among the best. In raising seedling pears, the 

 ground should be enriched with well-rotted manure, 

 (vegetable decomposition, such as rotten leaves, bark, 

 &c., we think the best, mixed with a portion of air- 

 slacked lime,) the earth should be occasionally stirred 

 between the rows, and all weeds eradicated. (See 

 the article on raising trees from seed.) 



Small stocks, measuring from an half to an inch 

 through at the but, should be budded, rather than 

 grafted. The best and most durable stock for stand- 

 ards is the wilding ; the quince and white thorn, for 

 dwarfs. There are some pears, (the Bartlett, for 

 example,) which do not thrive well upon the quince, 

 directly. Our method with such has been to graft 

 those softs that grow well upon the quince, and in 

 the following season re-grafting on these the kinds 

 that do not flourish when placed directly upon this 

 stock. This process of double grafting may be ad- 

 vantageously employed also in bringing pears earlier 

 into fruit. In the spring of 1840, we inserted a 

 graft of the " Cabot " into a dwarf stock, which was 

 but one inch through at the but, and in the fall of 

 1841, it bore from twelve to fifteen pears. 



