192 [ THE PEAR TREE 



on the quince. Grafting or budding on the wild pear is 

 adopted only in those places where wild pears are 

 abundant. Grafting on the hawthorn gives good results, 

 and accordingly the wild hawthorn (Crataegus Oxya- 

 cantha L. var. monogvna Jacq.), growing in valleys is 

 frequently grafted with the cultivated pear, but as in 

 the case of the wild pear the self-sown hawthorn is 

 grafted where it grows, and is rarely transplanted, 

 although the hawthorn bears transplanting almost as well 

 as the quince. The hawthorn, if desired, is as easily 

 propagated by seeds or kernels as the pear, but the 

 kernels require to be stratified for about a year before 

 sowing, otherwise they take two years to germinate. 

 The hawthorn is also easily propagated by suckers, and 

 cuttings strike root fairly well. The quince is most 

 readily propagated by cuttings and also by suckers which 

 are freely produced around a stem which has been cut 

 down. The common half-wild type of quince is preferable 

 as stock, being more resistant to drought and perhaps 

 more vigorous. 



Cuttings of the quince are planted in winter (Octo- 

 ber- February) and should not be thicker than i^ c.m. in 

 order that the stock may not be too thick when budded 

 in the following spring or grafted in the following winter. 

 If the quince stock is too thick the graft is more liable 

 to fail. However, quince stock is best raised from quite 

 small cuttings of a year's growth, not thicker than an 

 ordinary lead pencil, with or without a heel of the old 

 wood. These cuttings are planted in beds, and are well 

 watered throughout the summer. In October they will 

 be strong enough to be transferred to the nursery, where 

 they are planted at the proper distance apart, as in the 

 case of pear seedlings, and budded in the following 

 spring or grafted next winter. Those rooted cuttings 

 which when transplanted are found strong enough to 

 bear a graft, may be set apart and then earthed up 

 provisionally in a trench until February, when they 



