384 THE NURSERY-MANUAL 



difficult to obtain in America that it is practically out of the market. 

 Seedlings of the sand pear type (Pyrus serotina) have been strongly 

 recommended for stocks, but they do not attain general favor 

 amongst nurserymen. 



Pear seedlings should be taken up and removed from the seed- 

 bed the first fall. The foreign stocks are imported when a year old 

 from the seed. The seedlings are trimmed and sometimes " dressed" 

 (see page 123), and are set into nursery rows the following spring. 

 The next season that is, the season in which the stocks are 

 transplanted shield-budding is performed, as with the apple. 

 The budding season usually begins late in July or early in August 

 in the North. If the stocks are small, of " second size," they may 

 stand over winter and be budded the second year. Pear trees are 

 sold at two and three years from the bud. Pears do not succeed well 

 when root-grafted, except when a long cion is used, for the purpose 

 of securing own-rooted trees (see page 140). Dormant buds of the 

 pear may be used on large stocks in early spring, the same as with 

 the apple, and buds may be kept on ice for use in early summer 

 (see page 132). 



Pears are dwarfed by working on the quince. The Angers quince 

 is the best stock. The ordinary orange quince and its kin generally 

 make weak and short-lived trees. Quince stocks are obtained from 

 ordinary cuttings or from mound -layering, the latter method giving 

 much the better stocks (see Quince). The layers should be removed 

 the first autumn ; or, if they are not rooted then, they may be left a 

 year longer, when they will be found to be well rooted, and may then 

 be taken off, trimmed up and fitted to plant as stocks the following 

 spring, and budded in August. Quince stocks are bought in Europe, 

 whence they arrive in the fall. They are " dressed " and set in 

 nursery rows the following spring, and the buds are set the first 

 season. It is imperative to set the bud as low as possible to secure 

 trees that can easily be set deep enough to cover the union (4 to 6 

 inches below the surface is the common depth of planting dwarf 

 pears). Some varieties do not unite well with the quince, and if 

 it is desired to dwarf them they should be double-worked (see page 

 168). Some of the common and popular varieties that thrive 

 directly on the quince (without double-working) are the following : 

 Angouleme (Duchess), Anjou, Louise Bonne, Ho well, White 

 Doyenne (Virgalieu), Manning Elizabeth, Lawrence. Varieties 

 that usually thrive better when double-worked are Clairgeau, 

 Bartlett, Seckel, and others. 



