AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



Pear ronltnud. 



flowers will usually fall off at an early stage of growth, 

 because of their being unable to compete with stronger 

 ones, which take a lead, if weather and other conditions 

 allow them to set properly. Were all the flowers to set 

 and be allowed to come to maturity, the size and quality 

 of fruit throughout would be materially affected. This 

 is not of Tery frequent occurrence generally ; but, should 

 it take place, thinning is an obvious remedy. The uses 

 of Pears are pretty well known. First, and most im- 

 portant, as dessert fruits, nearly all the best varieties 

 are highly esteemed. For kitchen use, some few sorts 

 ar\ specially adapted, because of their fruits being large, 

 and the flesh firm and somewhat austere rather than 

 sweet; this renders them more suitable for stewing, 

 baking, Ac. Another use for Pears is that of producing 

 perry. Fruits for this purpose may be either large or 

 email; the more austere or rough their taste, the better 

 is the liquor product considered. 



Fin. 44. FLOWERISG BRA.NCHLET OF PEAR. 



PROPAGATION. This may be accomplished by seeds, 

 by cuttings, by layers, and also by budding and grafting. 

 Seeds are sown with a view to raising new varieties, and 

 more largely for the purpose of procuring stocks, whereon 

 to graft sorts already approved. 



Seeds. Seedlings might be raised in rather large 

 pots (about 9in.) of loamy soil, which should be 

 covered with pieces of slate or board at the time of 

 sowing, to prevent any depredations of mice, and placed 

 on bricks or tiles, to stop worms from entering. If 

 sown in autumn, and the pots are placed in a sheltered 

 position outside, the young seedlings may be expected 

 about March, when the coverings must be removed. 

 Seeds sown later on will require about three months 

 to germinate, while some may keep dormant for nearly 

 a year. The young plants may remain in their pots 

 one summer, and be transferred to the open ground the 

 following autumn. Only the seeds of first-class sorts 

 should be reserved for raising others, and they should 

 be saved from fine fruits which have been gathered 

 from healthy, vigorous trees. Seedling Pears seldom bear 

 fruit before the sixth or seventh year. Seeds intended 

 only for the purpose of raising stocks may be collected, 

 cleaned from the pulp by washing, and afterwards sown 

 in the open ground. Drills about 9in. apart, and 2in. 

 deep, are suitable; the soil should be previously well 

 pulverised and prepared. The seedlings may be trans- 

 planted when a year old, and grown on until they are 

 large enough for grafting. 



Cuttings and Layers. Propagation by cuttings is a 

 slow process, only to be recommended for preserving a 

 variety (that might otherwise become lost) untfl some 



Pear continued. 



grafts are procurable. It is not, at all times, an easy 

 or a certain method. Layering is practicable, if it is 

 desired to have trees on their own roots; but there are 

 few, if any, advantages to be derived, and, consequently, 

 this system is not much practised. 



Budding and Grafting. These are the principal methods 

 adopted for propagating Pears ; the former is practised 

 in the months of July and August, the latter chiefly in 

 March and April, or so soon as the sap begins to flow. 

 Whip or tongue-grafting is the plan best suited; but, 

 according to Baltet, side-grafting under the bark in July 

 and August, cleft-grafting, inlaying in March and April, 

 and crown-grafting in April and May, are also applicable. 

 The trees may be worked as standards, or close to the 

 ground, according to the sort of stock and the form in 

 which it is eventually intended to train them. 



Stocks. The principal stocks used for Pears are the 

 Pear itself, either common or wildings, the Quince, and 

 sometimes the Whitethorn. On the common Hawthorn, 

 the Mountain Ash (Pynw Awntparia), and the Medlar 

 (Mespilu* germanica), the Pear may also be grafted with 

 more or less success; but the Pear stock and Quince are 

 the best, and are most extensively used. Pear stocks, as 

 already indicated, are raised from seeds; those obtained 

 from the wild or from common sorts are well adapted. 

 Stocks from Quince are readily propagated from cuttings, 

 taken with a heel, or, better, by means of layering. Old 

 stools that are strong enough to produce vigorous shoots, 

 may be covered with soil; and, during autumn, after a 

 sufficient time has elapsed for the shoots to root, they 

 may be detached and transplanted in the different sizes 

 that are calculated to be ready for grafting about the 

 same time. Layering of short Quince shoots for stocks 

 should be practised some time during winter, and the 

 rooted plants will be ready for removal so soon as the 

 leaves drop in the following autumn. Whitethorn stocks 

 are raised from seeds. 



In the cultivation of Pears, the sort of stock on which 

 the trees are worked has always a very important bearing, 

 particularly in certain soils, on the general health, vigour, 

 and fraitfulness of the trees after they become esta- 

 blished. The Pear stock is, of course, the most natural, 

 and trees grafted on it possess more vigour, and attain 

 a greater age, than do those on any other. The roots, 

 however, have a tendency to penetrate deeply into the 

 subsoil, which is, in many localities, cold and unsuitable 

 to their requirements ; they are also long, and have but 

 few small fibres : consequently, the trees do not transplant 

 readily, unless the work is rather frequently undertaken, 

 and the roots are kept pruned. In deep and rich land, 

 the Pear stock is apt to induce a too luxuriant growth, 

 which is attended with comparative unfrnitfulness ; 

 but, in hot districts, and in chalky soils, this stock 

 may be found to possess considerable advantages over 

 any other. Grafting of seedling Pear stocks may be 

 practised, either close to the ground, or at any desired 

 height, as stock and scion are inclined to enlarge at 

 about an equal rate. For standards, only stout, vigorous 

 stocks are suitable for grafting at some height up ; weak 

 ones are, for this purpose, of little use, unless worked 

 near the ground with a variety likely to be of sufficiently 

 upright growth to form the requisite stem itself. Pre- 

 parations for grafting should commence by cutting off 

 scions before any signs of vegetation appear, and laying 

 them in deeply under a north wall. The stocks should 

 also be cut back near to where the union is intended, 

 before the sap commences to rise. 



In contrast to the Pear stock, and its method of rooting, 

 as already referred to, stands the Quince, which offers 

 many advantages in comparison. It encourages a dwarfer 

 growth, and an earlier bearing habit, and the fruit is often 

 more highly coloured and better ripened. The Quince 

 forms numerous fibry roots within a short distance from 



