THE ROSE, POME, AND DRUPE FAMILY. 483 



fertile summer kind; and M. Henrard, as early as 1840, intro- 

 duced his Bon Chre'tien and Vernois, said to have been re- 

 ceived from France. M. Lagepont, of the Commune of Char- 

 neux, produced in 1800 the celebrated Fondante de Charneux. 

 The Bon Chre'tien Lamarche was found in a convent garden of 

 the province of Liege, where its origin was unknown." 



We advance but slowly in new good kinds of Pears ; for not 

 more than five per cent of the new varieties raised from seed 

 on the Continent are adapted for universal cultivation. Some 

 kinds are good in the south of England, and never good north 

 of Trent. Still they are so capricious in their choice of site 

 and soil, that in many valleys in Scotland some kinds ripen 

 well, and are of better quality than they are in the north-east 

 of England. 



There is a curious fact relative to the change of quality in 

 some kinds of Pears newly raised from seed many are found 

 to improve with age, while others deteriorate. This was found 

 to be the case by the early raisers of seedling Pears in Belgium 

 in the last century. I now refer to it because the Prince Albert 

 Pear, which was at first so promising, now, after a lapse of ten 

 or twelve years, seldom or never ripens its fruit. This is the 

 case with some others, which it was hoped would prove valu- 

 able late Pears. Bezi Mai, Beurre Bretonneau, and Prince 

 Camille de Rohan, must be considered baking Pears. It is not 

 our cooler climate alone that has brought on these changes ; it 

 is the nature of the varieties. Winter Nelis has seldom or never 

 varied, neither has Beurre d'Aremberg. 



Pear Stocks. Quince from cuttings, hillock-layers, or seed ; 

 Pear or free stock from seed; and rarely White-thorn (Cratagus 

 oxycantha) from seed (haws). Clean straight young stocks are 

 obtained by planting out the stocks in autumn or spring, and 

 heading them down, when they send up fresh young shoots, 

 which can be either budded or grafted. The best time for 

 crown or whip grafting is in March or April and for budding, 

 July and August. Grafts which have not taken in the spring 

 can be replaced by buds in July or August ; and if these fail, 

 graft again close to the ground in spring. Scions or grafts 

 may be preserved by burying them in sand in a cool shady 

 place, under a north wall, but not where they are subject to 

 drip. Pieces of Pear roots four or five inches in length, with 

 a few fibres at the lower end, may be used for stocks on an 

 emergency, and are always readily obtainable where there are 

 old standard espalier or wall-trees. Always bud or graft close 

 to the ground on the Quince. 



There are at least half-a-dozen forms of the Quince, differing 



