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let the same tree be grafted or budded on a stock which 

 materially controls the ascent and descent of the sap, it is 

 equally clear that we obtain a further check on rampant 

 vegetative growth, and give an additional preponderance 

 to the reproductive fruit-bearing tendency. The tree 

 grows more of fruit and less wood. There too follows a 

 practical corollary of some importance. Soils which are 

 barely sufficiently fertile to give tolerable results with self- 

 stocks will not prove satisfactory with those of dwarfing 

 kinds unless assisted by judicious enrichments. The check 

 upon the vegetative individuality of the tree may easily be 

 carried too far if the poverty of the soil comes in as a 

 further negative factor. Hence the well-founded custom 

 of coupling rich soil with the use of dwarfing stock. 



There are several sorts of quinces, as distinct as sorts of 

 apples of a given race. The question as to which one suits 

 this or that sort of pear has not yet been taken up in 

 earnest and worked out. Unfortunately the scientific habit 

 of recording the data of pomological work at the time it is 

 performed, and subsequently collating results years after- 

 wards, is exceptionally rare. Yet by such investigation of 

 results it would be easy ultimately to arrive at valuable 

 practical conclusions, and to be able to allot special quince 

 stocks to special categories of pears. Doubtless this will 

 be done some day. At present we are in the stage of 

 pomological ignorance, in which a quince is a quince, and 

 all quinces are alike. In France and Belgium, the pear 

 countries par excellence, the Angers quince is recognised 

 and selected for exceptional vigour. Most of those scattered 

 all over the Cape appear to be derived from the Orange 

 Quince, and occasionally one will meet with what seem to 

 be seedlings of the broad-leaved strong-growing Portugal 

 sort. Many of the better varieties have been imported 

 recently, and are now in the market. The celebrated fruit- 

 grower, Mr. Thomas Eivers, who was one of the first to intro- 

 duce cultivation of the pear on quince stocks, has a note upon 

 the disputed longevity of such trees. He says: " I have so 

 often heard from market gardeners and others the opinion. 

 ' It is no use to plant pears on quince stocks for they will 

 not live long,' that whenever I have seen pear trees of 

 roature age, I have looked to the stock to ascertain its 



