GENERAL PRACTICE. STOCKS AND THEIR INFLUENCE. 113 



and Medlar (Mospilus germanica), as well as on Cotoneaster frigida and C. laxiflora. For 

 practical purposes, however, the different varieties of pears are only worked on quince 

 stocks for dwarf trees, and on pear stocks for standards or large bushes. 



The pear on the latter thrives best in dry, stony soil that allows the roots to descend 

 to a good depth and still to find nourishment in the open strata through which they 

 pass, the whole being free from stagnant water. Only good seedling roots should be 

 used, not suckers, for propagating purposes. The quince thrives best in a damp soil or 

 position not too dry and light, though pears on this stock answer well under liberal 

 manuring and watering in dry sites. 



Pears never flourish without plenty of alkali, being next to plums in their appro- 

 priation of potash. The quince has long, slender, very fibrous roots near the surface, 

 abstracting a large amount of nutriment from the soil, which the pear established on 

 it transforms into luscious, melting fruit. The quince as a stock for the pear was largely 

 encouraged in this country by the late Mr. Thomas Rivers, being little used previously, 

 though extensively employed on the Continent for centuries. The Angers quince is 

 the best for stocks, the Portugal for fruiting trees. 



Pear stocks are reared from seed, either of the wild pear (Pyrus communis), or of 

 the varieties cultivated for periy, seeds being obtained from the latter source abun- 

 dantly, and treated in the same manner as described for apple stocks from seed. 



The stocks usually employed for apples are three : Crab (Pyrus malus) or those 

 raised from pips or seeds of the apple of our hedgerows and copses ; Free, or those 

 raised from pips or seeds obtained from the crushed fruit used in cider-making in this 

 country and the apple- growing districts of Normandy. The other kind of stock used is 

 the Paradise, which is usually expressive of a free-rooting, dwarf-growing variety or 

 varieties of apple. The French Paradise is too dwarf and weak ; the Dutch is stronger 

 and better, but the English Paradise is superior to both. Continental varieties are too 

 tender for the English climate. 



The late Mr. Thomas Rivers originated the Broad-leaved Paradise and the Nonesuch 

 Paradise stocks from pips of the Nonesuch apple. These stocks differ. The Nonesuch 

 Paradise "has downy leaves and a knotted stem, but is wonderfully fertile ;" the Broad- 

 leaved Paradise "is much like the best varieties of the Doucin stocks." Both have 

 proved eligible for forming fruitful healthy trees. Botanists refer the Doucin to Pyrus 

 pumila, a native of South Russia and the Caucasus. The origination of the Nonesuch 

 Paradise from pips of the apple named proves the reproduction of variety through 



VOL. i. Q 



