THE PEAR TREE ] 191 



roots as possible, the tap root is cut short to induce the 

 growth of lateral roots, and all side twigs are removed. 

 The seedlings are then planted in lines on" the square, or 

 better on the quincuncial system, about 60 c.m. apart, 

 the soil is packed firmly around the roots, and if the 

 weather is dry the operation is completed by a copious 

 watering. The plants meant for stock may be budded in 

 the following March or may be budded in autumn, but 

 then the buds will remain dormant until next spring. 

 All seedling pears of whatever origin, raised for stock, 

 are known by French writers as poiriers franc, and 

 pears grafted or budded on them are called poiriers 

 sur franc, pears on own roots, to distinguish them 

 from those grafted or budded or the quince, poiriers sur 

 cotonnier. 



Unfortunately, cuttings or layers of the pear strike 

 root only with the greatest difficulty, and therefore pear 

 trees grown from cuttings or layers are rare. Moreover 

 although the wild pear throws up suckers rather freely, 

 and these suckers if transplanted with due care in winter 

 generally do well, the cultivated pear grown from 

 cuttings or layers very rarely produces any suckers, and 

 the chance of transplanting such suckers with success is 

 a remote one. This is all the more extraordinary when 

 it is considered that cuttings of the pear planted in a 

 moist soil produce an abundant callus, and the majority 

 of them commence to form new leaves at the usual time 

 in spring, and may continue in leaf well into the summer, 

 but ultimately die off without emitting any roots. It is 

 therefore practically impossible to propagate the pear on 

 a considerable scale from cuttings or layers, and this is 

 regrettable because a pear tree growing on its own roots 

 will throw up new stems and start to new life, in the 

 event that the original stem is destroyed by the wood 

 borers. 



The pear is propagated on a commercial scale 

 exclusively by grafting or budding on pear-seedlings or 



