THE ROSE, POME, AND DRUPE FAMILY. 489 



by some presumed to be a hybrid, of which P. aucuparia, or 

 " Rowan-tree," was one of the parents. Pyrus terminalis may 

 be grafted on the Mountain-ash (P. aucuparia), but is said by 

 some cultivators to be better on its own roots. 



The scarlet and yellow fruited varieties of the Mountain-ash 

 (Pyrus aucuparid), or " Rowan-tree," as it is popularly called, 

 are grafted on the seedling White-thorn (Cratcegus oxycanthd) 

 stock; as also is the Service-tree (Pyrus domestica). The 

 seedling or Wild Pear stock may, however, be employed. The 

 modes of grafting employed are cleft or whip grafting in March, 

 crown-grafting in April, close to the ground, and shield-budding 

 in July in the open ground. 



Pyrus hybrida. There is a fine old specimen of this in the 

 Fulham Nursery of Messrs Osborn & Son, which every autumn 

 is laden with its showy fruit. It is said to be a hybrid between 

 the Mountain-ash (" Rowan-tree ") and the White Beam tree. 

 Like its parents, it is readily propagated by grafting on the 

 White-thorn stock; and probably the Pear or Quince stock 

 might also be employed. Pyrus japonica is now referred to 

 the genus Cydonia, or Quinces, along with P. Maulei, a native 

 of Japan, similar in habit and fruit to P. japonica, except that 

 its fruit is edible, and useful for conserves or marmalade, like 

 that of its ally, the true Quince. Pyrus japonica is readily 

 propagated by cuttings of the roots ; and in the ' Gardeners' 

 Chronicle,' 1872, p. 1321, a portion of the root of this plant is 

 figured, bearing flowers and buds as well as roots. Many seminal 

 forms, bearing white, crimson, scarlet, rose, peach, flesh, and 

 salmon coloured flowers, have been raised in Continental nur- 

 series. This shrub forms an excellent stock for Chanomdes; 

 cleft-grafting in January or February, or shield-budding in the 

 latter month, are most successful. A tree of Pear Henri 

 Capron, in the Royal Horticultural Gardens at Chiswick, 

 sometimes produces a very attractive display of semi-double 

 flowers one year ; indeed fully two-thirds of the flowers were in 

 this state, those borne by one or two branches being entirely 

 so, and the tree was far more conspicuous than any other of 

 the numerous varieties on this account. If it were possible to 

 perpetuate this tendency to semi-duplication by grafting or 

 other means, it would be equally as ornamental as the double-, 

 blossomed Plums, Peaches, or Cherries. There seems a ten- 

 dency to duplication of late years among cultivated plants ; but 

 by what specific causes this substitution of showy but useless 

 organs for useful and sexual ones is brought about is still a 

 mystery to the physiologist. In some plants over-luxuriance 

 seems to favour the production of double forms, while the ex- 



