296 AGE OF DWAEF PEAR TREES. 



probably, to remember a time, it may be years be- 

 fore, when the tree brought on this ill health by 

 a too large crop. The addition of the pear roots 

 give the tree greater strength, and consequently 

 increased power of production. The period of 

 barrenness before maturity in the pear on free stock 

 is cut short by the quince, and the life extended 

 nearly as long as the standard, if cropped judiciously. 

 The life of pears upon the quince independently, 

 has, I believe, been understated. Where blight or 

 other diseases have attacked them, or exhaustion 

 has followed overbearing, their life will not probably 

 exceed fifteen or twenty years at the most ; but an 

 observation of those from thirty to forty years of 

 age, in the gardens of my esteemed partner, Hon. 

 Marshall P. "Wilder, which are still bearing crops, 

 and the large number, of fifteen to twenty years of 

 age, apparently in full health and productiveness, 

 must lead one to extend this period. 



Some one may ask why these trees are not rooted 

 from the pear. Formerly the importance of such 

 deep planting of the dwarf was not rightly esti- 

 mated, and the necessity of it has become impressed 

 by the results of the experience of the cultivator, 

 although it was taught theoretically more than two 

 centuries ago. 



If manure has been applied broadcast, according 

 to the preceding directions, there will be little need 

 of using it at the time of planting; but if not, a 



