IS6 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



November 



Grafting Pear upon Thorn.— The proper Stock to use. 



The question of growing pears upoa our prairie soils upon trees grafted in pear or 

 quince root, seems to stand about lilie this : — Wo have paid tens of thousands of dollar^ 



to eastern growers of pear trees duriiig the 

 years past, and our remunerative crops of 

 pears so far have been lilie arigel's visits- 

 few and far between. Isolated trees in favor- 

 able situations, have seemed healthy aad 

 promising for a few years, but sooner or later 

 the mysterious blight attacks them and away 

 go our linpes and a big slice of our pear- 

 growing faith. The best guesses we have 

 had in regard to the causes of blight are not 

 perfectly satisfactory ; yet upon oue point all 

 seem agreed — any plan, as root pruning, 

 sodding the ground with grass, paving under 



the trees \vi!h stones, &c., that shortens tbc 

 natural supply of .sap from healthy pear root. 



Uisens'ihe liability to bliyld. In the garden of 

 the earnest, methodic amateur, who has 

 plentj' of time and perseverance. Dr. Hull's 

 plan of root pruning would no doubt prove 

 very satisfactory. The masses, however, 

 with their main attention given to other 

 matters than fruit growing, will be more 

 likely to get a supply of pears by grafting or 

 budding upon some stock that naturally sup 

 plies less sap than the pear. Very numerous 

 experiments have been tried at the West 

 in working the pear upon the thorn. When 

 thus worked upon the common bitter Haw 

 of our thickets, the union of the pear with 

 the thorn wood has not usually been very 

 perfect, aud the trees have not been very 

 long lived, though usually very productive 

 while they did live. In cases, however, 

 where suitable varieties of the pear have 

 been budded or grafted upon thrifty young 

 stocks of the large free growing thorn, with 

 edible fruit found along our streams and 

 river bottoms, the success has been the most 

 perfect. Trees in Illinois, worked over 

 twenty years ago, are still in a perfectly 

 thrifty condition, aud for a number of years 

 have borne large annual crops. Our horti- 

 cultural authors and editors have not favored 

 the idea of grafting pear upon thorn for the 

 reason that it was extensively tried in Eu- 

 rope a few years since and fiiiled to give 

 satisfaction. With us the case is different. 

 Their trial was upon the English Hawthorn- 

 Our western thorn is of itself quite a large 

 free growing tree. We have native speci- 

 mens here upon the Cedar river fully thirty 

 feet in height and fifteen inoaes in diameter, 

 looking like aged pear trees. When the 



pear is worked upon this stock, the thorn 

 trunk influenced apparently, by the pear 

 growth above it, attains to a greater than 

 natural size. The famous pear tree worked 

 upon thorn in Ohio, has a tliorn trunk of 

 nearly seven feet in circumference. 



There are several varieties of the thorn, 

 meso of them of free growth. The variety 

 most common aud best for the pear is 

 described by Torrey and Gray as a variety 

 of Cerategus Cocciuea, ( variety molles). 

 In Prof. Asa Gray's newer work, it is more 

 properly classed with Crategus Toraen- 

 tosa, or Pear Thorn. The sharply toothed 

 leaf of this thorn, is shown in the annexed 

 large cut in contrast with the leaf of the 

 common bitter Haw of our thickets, shown 

 in the small cut which is unsuitable f )r a 

 pear stock. In a succeeding number I will 

 contribute a few notes in regard to best 

 methods of working pears upon thorn, best 

 varieties of pear for this purpose, &c. 



Jos. L. BUDD. 

 Shellsburg, Iowa. 



*-•-• 



For the Western Pomologist. 

 Fall Planting— Rabbits and Protection. 



We have found that in all climates wliere 

 the thermometer does not f dl much below 

 zero, say only a degree or two, that fall is as 

 good a time to plaut trees of any kind as 

 spring. In fact, apples do better then than 

 at aa3' other time ; aud even peache.i, cher- 

 ries, plums, grapes, pears, etc., if mulched 

 with straw where the snow does not lay 

 upon the ground long at a time, do equally 

 well. Now is the time to order from the 

 nursery. Be sure you send to a reliable 

 party, and agree with him not to substitute 

 oilier varieties f )r those j'ou order, in case he 

 lias none of the kind you want. Plant your 

 trees in good, large openings, mulch and 

 stake well, and examine them from time to 

 time through the winter to see that field 

 mice and rabbits are not gnawing them. If 

 mice troub'.e, put a little arsenic in meal 

 under the straw ; and before rabbits begin 

 their depredations, take a liver, or piece of 

 bloody meat, and smear the trunk of th' 

 tree a foot up from the ground ; or tie corn 

 stalks around it at the ground, a foot long. 

 One man can tie two hundred trees in a 

 day. When spring opens, cut them away, 

 loosen up the earth around each tree, and 

 scatter some ashes around ; coal ashes are as 

 good as an}-. 



Stanford, Ky, 



Woodman. 



Preservation op Fkuit.— A Miss Peck, 



of Chester, Mass., claims to have discovered 



a method for preserving fruit fir any length 



of time, in its natural shape, and preserving 



its natural flavor, at about one-tenth of tlie 



cost of canning. She has applied for a 



patent. 



-»-•-• 



Dr. Wood, of Philadelphia, has discovered 

 that peach trees die f)r wantof pntash in the 

 soil. As a remedy he "lyes wilfully and 

 persistently," as H. G. says. 



