with a Treatise on the subject. 213 



pears, I felt myself called upon to plant specimen trees of all 

 the varieties I then possessed. But fearing that much ground 

 would be wasted in the experiment, 1 kept my mind on the 

 alert to arrest superabundant growth and induce early fruitful- 

 ness; this I then thought could be best done by planting the 

 trees in small square brick pits, leaving holes at the bottom for 

 drainage. Plunging trees in large pots also occurred to me; but 

 as I soon found these methods too exi)ensive, I took advantage 

 of a piece of shallow loamy soil resting on a substratum of very 

 hard while clay, to carry out my ideas; for I calculated that 

 the roots of the trees would not penetrate the clay, and that 

 the soil on the surface might be made rich enough to support 

 the trees without vigorous and unruly growth. However, I 

 soon found that the roots of trees are not so easily kept 

 within bounds, and that those of my pear trees, in search of 

 nutriment, not being able to enter the hard clay, were wander- 

 ing far and wide, the branches also keeping pace with the roots, 

 and growing much too rapidly for my calculations as to the 

 space each tree ought to have occupied. 1 had previously 

 remarked for many years that apple trees growing in a firm 

 loamy soil in this nursery, if removed one or two years con- 

 secutively, which in nursery culture often occurs, acquired a 

 stunted and prolific habit, making abundance of bloom buds 

 and bearing profusely. On examining these trees I found 

 they had no large feeding roots, but only a mass of fibres. I 

 also found that if such trees were by accident planted near, or 

 in rich soil, comparatively large feeding roots were formed; 

 they commenced growing with vigor, and their fruit-bearing 

 propensities were proportionately diminished, their tufiy fibrous 

 roots gradually disappearing. 1 mention this without endeav- 

 ouring to draw any conclusions from it, as it is intended simply 

 to state the progress of my ideas. It then occurred to me 

 that if I could keep the roots of my pear tiees in a fibrous 

 state by frequent removals, I should make them acquire the 

 stunted and prolific habit I had so long observed in ap|)les.* 

 "In attempting to remove my pear trees, a second thought 

 occurred, that it would be less trouble to dig a trench round 

 them and cut all their roots at a certain distance from the stemj, 



* I think 1 may say that 1 knew a small and nejrlected quarter of 

 apple trees, in my younj^er days, that were six to eight years station- 

 ary as regarils growth, hut perfectly healthy and bearing every year 

 profusely, the soil a stift'loain. 



