184 AMERICAN GARDENER 



that the stock for ihefiear tree is frequently the 

 white-thorn. Can a pear partake of the nature 

 of the haw, which grows upon the thorn, and 

 which is a stone- f ruit too? If this notion were 

 correct, there could be hardly a single apple- 

 orchard in all England : for, they graft upon 

 crab-stocks; and, of course, all the apples, in 

 the course of years, would become crabs. Apri- 

 cots and Peaches are, in England, always put on 

 plum-stocks ; yet, after centuries of this practice, 

 they do not become plums. If the fruit of the 

 graft partake of the nature of the stock, why 

 not the wood arid leaves*. Yet, is it not visible 

 to all eyes, that neither ever does so partake ; 

 This, then, like the carrying off the farina from 

 the male to the female flower is a mere whim, or 

 dream. The bud, or graft, retains its own na- 

 ture, wholly unchanged by the stock ; and, all that 

 is of consequence, as to the kind of stock, is, whe- 

 ther it be such a? will last long and supply the tree 

 with a suitable quantity of wood. This is a mat- 

 ter of great importance ; for though peach will 

 grow on pcach y and apple on apple, the trees are 

 not nearly so vigorous and durable as if the peach 

 were put on ihefilum and the apple on the crab. 

 In 1800, I sent several trees from England to 

 Messrs. James and Thomas Paul, at Busleton, 

 in Pennsylvania. There was a JVectarine amongst 

 these. It is well known, that, in 1817, there had 

 been so great a mortality in the peach orchards, 

 that they had become almost wholly extinct. At 

 Busleton there had been as great a mortality as 

 in any other part. Yet I, that year, saw the 

 Nectarine tree large, sound in every part, fine 

 and flourishing. It is very well known, that the 



