CHAPTER V. 



DWARFS AND STANDARDS. SELECTING TREES. 



AFTER fourteen years of practical experience 

 with pears and their culture, having had under my 

 charge, part of that time, more than one hundred 

 varieties, including all the leading kinds, planted on 

 well prepared soil, I have come to the conclusion, 

 contrary to my former views, that with a single ex- 

 ception, the culture of the dwarf in the orchard is a 

 failure. This conclusion is not the result of a few 

 days' investigation, it has extended over many years. 

 As fact after fact presented itself, I was slow to ac- 

 cept them as conclusive, until it became so apparent, 

 that to hold out any longer would be obstinacy. 

 For a long time, I had reason to suppose that the 

 Angers quince was well suited as a stock for many 

 of our best varieties of pears, but as far as my per- 

 sonal observation has gone, the number has dwindled 

 down to one variety, that is the Duchesse d'Angou- 

 leme. How long this kind will continue to do well 

 on quince root, I am not prepared to say. If it 

 should fail, I would feel much discouraged, for I 



