190 [ THE PEAR TREE 



grafting or budding. In this case any pear seed will do, 

 many continental nurserymen making use of the pips or 

 kernels of the half-wild small-fruited sorts used only in 

 the manufacture of perry (poiret), a beverage like cider, 

 the kernels of this type of pear being more easily 

 obtainable in quantity for nursery use, than those of other 

 types of pears. Promising seedlings raised from selected 

 table pears can be re-grafted or re-budded on adult trees 

 already in bearing condition, and in this way the quality 

 of their fruit may be ascertained in a short time, as 

 otherwise they will require at least eight years to come 

 to fruit. 



The kernels should be stratified at once on removal 

 from the fruit, because if kept too long, they may become 

 excessively dry and fail to germinate. They are best 

 stratified by mixing them with sand or with common 

 garden soil, and are stored in boxes or in shallow 

 earthenware pots, covering the top with a layer of sand 

 or soil about 2 c.m. thick. This system is better than 

 packing the seed or kernels in layers 2 c.m. thick, 

 alternating the layers of kernels with layers of sand or 

 garden soil of the same thickness. 



Sowing is done early in March in beds properly 

 prepared with well consumed manure in a cool and 

 shaded part of the nursery, and the pips are distributed 

 evenly, with an average space of 2 c.m. apart, and are 

 covered by a layer of i to 2 c.m. of finely sifted soil 

 well mixed with leaf-mould or old manure. The bed 

 should be sprayed frequently with a fine rose and kept 

 \\ell.clean of weeds. Germination takes place in two or 

 three weeks, but may be prolonged for one month or 

 more, and with ordinary care the seedlings will be about 

 10 c.m. high by autumn. In winter they may be 

 shifted to the nursery, but it is better to allow them to 

 remain for another year in the same bed to grow stronger. 

 Transplanting is best done towards the close of winter, 

 in February, the seedlings being taken up with as many 



