FRUIT. 73 



very prolific ; and Vicar of Winkfield, which is a prodigious 

 bearer, and although not of the highest flavor, yet often very 

 fine and acceptable at the time of ripening — December and 

 January. If desired to cultivate mainly for market, the 

 Doyenne cl'Ete, Osband's Summer, Bartlett, Howell and 

 Stevens' Genesee, with Louise Bonne, Beurre d'Anjou and 

 Vicar, as dwarfs, would be the most desirable. 



Do not set dwarfs unless your soil is a strong loam, or 

 clay-loam, retentive of moisture. Select trees budded close 

 to the ground, — say two inches above the roots ; set them so 

 that the point of junction of pear and quince is from two to 

 three inches below the level of the ground ; put your manure 

 — the strongest kind — on the surface, and work in with the 

 soil ; do not disturb the soil close around the tree to the 

 depth of more than an inch, and it will throw out roots from 

 the pear, which is of the first importance to retain the tree 

 firmly in the ground, and to sustain it if the quince-roots 

 fail. 



Transplanting trees is not necessarily a difficult operation. 

 Its success consists in preserving as many roots as possible, 

 never allowing them to become dried. Spread the roots out 

 horizontally, as much as possible, setting the trees no deeper, 

 as a general rule, than they were before being transplanted, 

 excepting in the case of dwarfs, as before described. Pack 

 the earth firmly about the trees, leaving no cavities under or 

 about the roots, using no undecomposed manures, but apply 

 such to the surface after planting, and endeavor by mulching 

 or cultivation to preserve sufficient moisture in the new soil 

 to insure rapid root-making, always cutting back the top in 

 proportion as the roots have been cut, and in shape to form a 

 pyramidal tree. This trimming, with this object in view, as 

 also to form a low compact head, should be continued for a 

 series of years, until these objects are attained. 



Most portions of our Cape have an abundance of what we 

 believe to be the best manures for pear and many other kinds 

 of fruit trees, — peat and salt-marsh mud. These, thoroughly 

 decomposed, and composted in nearly equal proportions, 

 make a valuable manure to incorporate with the soil when 

 setting trees, or can be used in a crude state as a dressing, 

 either separate or composted. When the salt mud can be 

 10* 



