PROPAGATION OF PEARS 95 



PROPAGATION OF PEARS 



The methods for the propagation of Pears are precisely 

 the same as for Apples. To form espaliers or standards, 

 the wild Pear is used as a dwarf stock, budding the stock 

 at a point 12 to 15 inches from the soil ; but for forming 

 cordons, pyramid trees, or bushes, the Pears are budded 

 low on Quince stocks. The wild Pear or " free " stock 

 is ready for budding first ; the Quinces are late in com- 

 mencing to grow, therefore they are budded last. 



In planting out young stocks the rows should be 3 feet 

 apart, and the stocks should be planted 15 inches apart 

 in the row. " Free " stocks may be raised from " pips " 

 (seeds) of the Pear and Apple ; these are best raised in pots 

 in a cold frame, but larger quantities may be raised in a 

 seed-bed of light soil. 



Any wild Apples, Pears, or varieties of either fruit that 

 are growing in unsuitable positions may be headed back 

 and grafted with varieties suited to the conditions. 



Double-grafting is carried out with certain varieties of 

 Pears, which are incapable of succeeding when grafted direct 

 upon the Quince stock. In these cases, a free-growing 

 variety like Doyenne Boussoch, or Hessle, is first budded on 

 to the Quince stock, and the next season the shoot from 

 this bud is budded with the desired sort, say Marie Louise 

 or Souvenir du Congres ; this latter bud is inserted 6 inches 

 from the base of the mother shoot. Apples do not need 

 double working, although such free growers as Peasgood's 

 Nonsuch or Bramley's Seedling can be checked and made 

 more prolific when grafted on a smaller wooded kind, like 

 Cox's Orange Pippin or Worcester Pearmain. 



