12 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



To those whose grounds are open and unprotected the dwarf is 

 desirable, especiallj'^ for the late and large varieties, as its low, 

 compact form renders it much less exposed to the storms and 

 winds than the higher and more spreading branches of the stand- 

 ard. 



By all groAvers the dwarf must be used, if they would have some 

 of the most desirable varieties of the best quality, and to those 

 who, owing to conflicting opinions, are in doubt whether to set 

 dwarf treec, the experience of many in this vicinity, who have 

 grown them for the past thirty years warrants the statement, that 

 if in preparation of the ground the wants of the quince roots are 

 supplied, and the same care given them that is required to ensure 

 the best success with standards, they will prove a continued source 

 of satisfaction to the grower, and ma}^ be left, in full health and 

 vigor, a legacy to those in middle life whose childhood was made 

 glad with their first fruits. 



Charles M. Hovey coincided generally in the views expressed in 

 Mr. Wood's essay, but excepted to the part advocating the root- 

 ing of dwarfs from the pear, believing that it would be better to 

 let them run out their natural lives, and then take them up. He 

 thought they would not make as good standards as those originally 

 grafted on pear stocks, on account of their tendency to send out 

 one or two strong roots on one side of the tree, instead of rooting 

 regularly all round the tree. If allowed to root from the pear they 

 must either be planted at the proper distance for standards at first, 

 or thinned out to such a distance. 



Mr. Wood admitted the tendency to which Mr. Hovey objected, 

 but said that it could easily be obviated by the operation of " lip- 

 ping ; " that is, removing the earth and cutting several tongues at 

 intervals around the tree by an upward cut with a gouge or knife, 

 beginning the cut at the bottom of the swelling of the pear where 

 it joins the quince. These cuts should be from an inch to an 

 inch and a half long and a quarter of an inch wide, and kept open 

 by pressing a little earth under the tongue. The earth should be 

 replaced over them, when they will soon send out roots freely all 

 round the tree. The best time to perform the operation is after 

 the middle of June, when the tree is growing rapidly and the 

 ground is warm, so as to excite the production of roots. The 

 soil should be kept moist by mulching or otherwise ; in fact, the 



