1872 The Western Pomologist and Gardener. 73 



Tlie nioantalu AsU Tor Stocks. 



By B. a. Mathews. Knox^tlle, Iowa. 



Do we not need a little more light on the question of " Mountain Ash for Pear Stocks?" 

 One correspondent has recently advocated the use of this stock upon which to work the 

 Pear ; while another seems to favor its trial for this purpose. To the latter idea no one 

 could object ; but to assert that " it is undoubtedly as good as any stock for the purpose," 

 or to say that " those who have had the most experience with it, and therefore know best 

 about its merits, have no hesitancy in recommending it as the best stock for the Pear," 

 seems to me to be rather a sweeping statement. There are many fine fruit culturists who 

 consider Pear se^dlinr/s themselves very valuable for the uses above mentioned. Others, 

 again, prefer the Quince for some sorts. Let a person review the back numbers of the 

 Horticulturist, and he will find this question was agitated nearly a quarter of a century 

 ago, by a number of zealous pomologists, who at that time thought tliey had found the "best 

 stock for the Pear." But write to them to-day and you will find as I have found, that they 

 have but little encouragement to offer. Many valuable facts may be learned, however, by 

 further actual experiment, which is the onlj' test. For instance, what varieties do best on 

 this stock ? How should they be worked ? At the ground, or at standard height, thus 

 exposing less of the body of the pear tree itself. And what kind of Mountain Ash should 

 be used ? 



S. L. Goodalc, Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, who has experimented con- 

 sidcrablj' in this direction for the past twenty- five years, writes that he has been more 

 successful by grafting the limbs of large trees than in any other way. Some years ago, I 

 grafted nearly a hundred fine Mountain Ash stocks (mostly American, but some European 

 and a few oak -leaved,) with a number of the leading varieties of Pears. Since then, I 

 have from time to time grafted others. Of the first grafting all are now dead, in the mean- 

 time bearing no fruit. Three years ago, I set over a hundred grafts in the limbs of large 

 trees, but they are dead also, with two or three exceptions. I have not yet succeeded in 

 getting a Winkfield or a Clairgeau to survive the first winter, as they do not mature their 

 growth. Many others will blight the second summer, and the third season generally calls 

 in the remainder. My father has a Buflam and a Seckle on his grounds, three years 

 grafted. But they both look badly demoralized, and I think will die next summer. 



The Pear, or many sorts at least, make a fine growth for a while. So will apple. 

 Grimes' Golden, for instance, grows well one year and dies the next. The American and 

 European Mountain Ash seem to be better stocks for this use than the Oak - Leaved. 

 Should a Pear graft die suddenly during the growing season, it will kill the stock. I find 

 that the Seurre d. Anjou does not take well on the Quercifolia. And the Clapp's Favorite 

 on this stock kills the first winter. It does not do so, however, on either the Aucuparia or 

 Americana. 



The following sorts make a vigorous growth for one or more years : Seckle, Buffum, 

 Winkfield, Clairgeau, Flemish Beauty, Clapp's Favorite, and Frederick of Wurtemburg. 

 The ones that are most promising are Seckle and Buffum. 



I cannot understand Mr. Wier, when he says that the American Mountain Ash " is a 

 much smaller and slower growing tree " than the European variety. With us the reverse 

 proves true. We have both sorts sixteen or seventeen years old. I think then, in order 

 to settle fully this question, as to the reliability of the Mountain Ash for stocks, that we 

 need still more practical experience and actual tests in the orchard. 



A Bone for Scxenttfic Pomologists. — A correspondent of the Maine Parmer says : Let 

 me give a bone for our scientific pomologists to pick! Five years since, I determined to 

 change the native tops of two of my Alexanders. Into one I grafted the Somerset, and 

 into the other the Oldenburgh. The former produces the original fruit, as to size, form, 

 color, flavor, etc., while the latter produces a good crop annually (which is not the case on 

 the original) with all the characteristics of the Oldenburgh, as to markings, form, flavor, 

 etc., except size, which Is enormous — quite as large as the largest Alexanders. Can any 

 of your numerous readers account for the anomaly ? 



