194 [ THE PEAR TREE 



On the other hand, there are certain varieties of 

 pears which possess little affinity with the quince 

 stock or disagree with it, and therefore require to be 

 grown on pear seedlings. If grafted or budded on 

 quince stock these varieties often do well for the 

 first year or two, but the graft never binds well with 

 the stock and the young tree dies off after a precarious 

 life of a short duration. Where no pear seedlings are 

 available for stock, or where owing to the nature of 

 the soil the quince stock is preferable, the difficulty may 

 be overcome by rebudding or regrafting (surgreffage). 

 This operation consists in budding or grafting in the 

 first instance the quince stock with a variety of pear 

 which thrives well on that stock, and then the' young 

 pear is rebudded or regrafted with the desired variety 

 at a distance of 10 to 20 c. m. above the original 

 graft on the quince stock. In this manner although 

 the roots of course belong to the quince stock, the 

 pear will be growing in reality on the pear stock 

 consisting of that part of the stem of the tree situated 

 between the first and the second graft. 



The operation of budding is best performed in 

 March, when the sap of the stock is already in 

 movement, and the buds of the pear are about to move. 

 In order to secure retarded buds of the pear, the 

 slips may be selected some time before and earthed 

 up in a cool and shaded situation, until the stock to 

 be budded is well in movement. It is preferable to 

 bud the stock close to the ground in order to secure 

 a clean stem which may be trained as desired. The 

 slips should be taken out of the ground where they 

 had been earthed up, gradually as required, so as 

 not to expose them to the risk of drying too much 

 before use. The lower buds of each slip should be 

 discarded, being too weak, and the upper buds being 

 too pronounced and often angular or irregular should 

 also be avoided, well formed buds on the middle portion 



