PEARS. 131 



Of the Kitchen Sorts, or stewing pears, we may name 

 the Double-fleur, Orange d Hiver, Catillac, Uvedale s St. 

 Germain or Belle de J ersey, and the Gros de Lyons. The 

 trees are placed against inferior walls, or trained to espalier 

 rails, or kept as dwarf standards. The Uvedale s St. Ger 

 main fruit often attains a very large size, especially against 

 a wall ; but the Double-fleur is equal in size, and superior 

 in quality. 



Pear trees are grafted either on what are called free- 

 stocks, or on dwarfing-stocks ; for the former, which are 

 intended for full-sized trees, the seeds of the wilding-pear 

 should be sown ; but frequently the pips of the perry-pears, 

 and sometimes of the common cultivated sorts are used. 

 For dwarfing the quince is preferred ; but the white thorn, 

 as already mentioned, is occasionally employed. Where 

 the space is limited, or the ground is damp, the dwarfing- 

 stocks are the more suitable. It is a favorite doctrine with 

 some, that by budding or grafting on quince or hawthorn, 

 pears of too melting and sugary a quality acquire firmness 

 and acidity. To what extent this holds good has not been 

 correctly ascertained, but that the stock exerts a certain 

 degree of influence on the fruit is beyond dispute. Some 

 of the finer pears do not take so readily on the quince : in 

 this case double working is resorted to. For example, the 

 Virgoleuse may be easily budded on the quince, and the 

 Beurre d Aremberg will afterwards succeed freely only on the 

 Virgouleuse. It may be mentioned, in passing, that the 

 ancient horticulturists seem to have supposed that a fruit 

 was improved by double working; and that the term 

 reinette, a name applied to a class of apples, is considered 

 as having been derived from the Latin renata, that is, a 

 tree grafted upon itself. 



In selecting young pear trees, some prefer maiden plants, 



