COMMON PEAR-TREE. 291 
varieties cultivated for their fruit are usually propagated by grafting and budding 
on stocks of its own kind, of the mountain ash, the quince, and those of several 
other trees. For the poorer soils, and exposed situations, stocks of the wild pear, 
the medlar, and several species of thorn, of the given locality, are thought to be 
best, on account of their hardihood; but it is found from experience, that, on 
good soils, or where the pear is to be cultivated entirely as a fruit-tree, both the 
tree and the fruit will grow larger when the stock is a seedling-pear of some vig- 
orous-growing variety. Such stocks also throw the scions sooner into bearing 
than the wild ones, though they tend more to shorten the longevity of the trees. 
If grafted on the stocks of the quince, the medlar, the thorn, the mountain ash, 
or any species of sorbus, fine dwarf-trees may be obtained, which may be trained 
en quenouille, a mode much adopted at present, by the amateurs of Europe, and 
is also becoming common in the United States. The pear grows remarkably 
well on the common hawthorn, but if the graft is not made under ground, it does 
not form a very safe and durable tree; because, as the diameter of the scion 
increases faster than that of the stock, it is liable to be blown off by the wind. 
When the graft, however, is made close to the ground, or directly below its sur- 
face, the stock swells in nearly the same proportion as the scion, and there is but 
little danger of the tree being blown down, or of its not advancing to a consid- 
erable age: Whenever the grafted part of a tree has long been buried at some 
distance below the surface of the soil, the scion or upper part throws out new 
Toots, which acquire, in time, so much vigour and strength, that those of the 
primitive stock gradually become decomposed, and serve for the nourishment of 
the future tree. This " re-rooting," as it is termed, is of great advantage to trees 
occupying a soil not well adapted to their longevity or vigour, in which case, art 
should assist in the operation in the following manner, which we quote from the 
"Revue Horticole," as translated in Hovey's " Magazineof Horticulture," for April, 
1845, by Mr. A. J. Downing, of the botanic garden and nursery, at Newburgh, 
New York: -"At the time of planting the trees, the graft should be inserted a 
few inches below the surface of the soil ; two or three years afterwards, * * * * 
at the time when the descending sap is most abundant, which is usually in July, 
the earth should be removed at the foot of each tree, so as to lay bare the swell- 
ing of the graft; after which, several incisions should be made with a sharp 
gouge, raising up from below several tongues of the thickness of the bark and 
alburnum; this operation will give them a concave form, of which the length 
will be at least double the width ; these incisions should be multiplied, according 
to the size of the trees upon which the operation is performed ; but more than a 
quarter of the bark should never be removed. These wounds should be immedi- 
ately covered with the richest soil ; one fourth cow-manure, to three-fourths of 
fresh loam, well mixed, are, in my opinion, the best and the simplest application ; 
one or two shovels full of this mixture are sufficient to cause the tree to throw 
out a large quantity of roots, which, shooting down into the natural soil, sustain 
the life of the trees during a considerable time." On this subject, Mr. Downing 
remarks, that, " generally speaking, it is a dangerous practice to plant a tree 
several inches lower than it stood in the nursery, so as to cover the union of the 
stock and graft. Many trees would languish and die, under such treatment, 
unless speedily re-established on the new roots. But this suggests a very excel- 
lent mode of grafting, that obviates all this difficulty, and which may indeed be 
considered the most perfect of all modes, viz., that of grafting on pieces of the 
root, instead of the whole stock ; or cutting down small stocks quite to the root, 
and grafting considerably below the surface. This is now practised to some 
extent by many American nurserymen, in working the apple, and it might be 
carried further with success, as the re-rooting of grafts so inserted would, per- 
haps, generally take place without assistance." 
