1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



is a question of verj- considerable importance. 

 Some of them appear to flourish well on either 

 stock, but others are decidedly best on the quince. 

 For instance, the slow growin}^ kinds, like the 

 Seckel, do not grow well on the quince, and hence 

 they should be double work-ed, as it is called, that 

 is, a more vigorous kind should first be worked on 

 the quince, and then the slow grower on that, 

 which will give it a more ra])icl growth. The 

 quince stock improves its quality, and the more 

 vigorous pear on which it immediately stands, 

 makes it grow more rapidly. The Madeleine will 

 do equally well on the pear or the quince, but the 

 Rostiezer and Dearborn's Seedling need a quince 

 bottom. The Bartlett does well on both, but the 

 size and flavor of its fruit are much improved by 

 a quince stock. Gansel's Bergamot, Beurre Rose 

 and Dix are very slow growers on their o\\ti bot- 

 toms, and should be double worked on the quince. 

 The Beurre D'Aremberg will succeed best on the 

 Virgalieu, wliich has been worked on the quince. 

 The Flemish Beauty, Duchesse D'.\ngouleme, and, 

 indeed, nearly all the foreign varieties require 

 quince bottoms. Cultivators who have but little 

 land, and who wish to obtain fruit as early as pos- 

 sible, will generally use only quince stocks, while 

 those who have abundance of land, and desire pear 

 trees which will last many years will more gener- 

 ally emi)loy pear stocks. ' Some cultivators regard 

 pear trees on quince stocks as mere aj)ologies for 

 pear trees, on account of their want of durability. 

 I have, however, seen pear trees in Col. Wilder's 

 gardens, on the quince, which are twenty-five 

 years old, and twenty feet in height, and which 

 are now as vigorous as ever. Downing says their 

 ordinary duration on a quince stock is about a 

 dozen years, and on the pear about fifty. But 

 pears on their own stocks, under very favorable 

 conditions, will sometimes live several hundred 

 years. The famous Endicott pear tree is still 

 flourishing in Danvers, though it wa» planted 

 there by Gov. Endicott in the year 1G28, eight 

 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. The 

 celebrated Stuyvesant pear tree, originally planted 

 by one of the early Dutch Governors in the city 

 of Xcw York, more than two hundred years ago, 

 is still standing, I believe. It is a summer pear, 

 like the summer Bonchretien. 



"WHAT IS THE BEST TIME AND MANNER OF 

 TRANSPLANTING PEAR TREES? 



Experienced cultivators differ as to the best 

 time, but I cannot divest myself of the convic- 

 tion that the Spring is the best season. It is 

 more in harmony with the laws of nature. Hardy 

 forest trees may do equally well in the s])ring or 

 autumn, but the more delicate fruit trees, in my 

 ownjudg.mcnt, do much better to be planted out 

 as soon as possible after they are taken up, and at 

 the season of the year when they can proceed at 

 once to repair the damage to their rootlets which 

 are unavoidably occasioned by removal. They 

 should also be taken up with the greatest care, 

 not, as many do, by digging a circle round the 

 trees and cutting off all the roots a foot or two 

 from the trunk, but by loosening the soil about 

 the trees, and then with an iron bar lift them out 

 bodily and gradually, with as many of the small 

 fibres as it is possible to retain. They should 

 then be placed, the sooner the better, in holes 

 previously prepared for the purpose, and at anj' , 



rate a foot or two larger in diameter than the en- 

 tire roots of the tree after thev have been care- 

 fully spread out, like so many radii from the cen- 

 tre to the circumference. The holes should be 

 dug two feet deej) and at least six feet in diameter, 

 and the trees set in, and compost of loam. sul)soil 

 and manure thoroughly incorjjorated together. 

 All trees on quince stocks should be set so deep 

 that about four inches of the graft will be below 

 the surface of the ground, for the doul)le purpose 

 of preventing borers from getting access to the 

 quince stocks, and of making tlie graft throw out 

 new roots into the earth, which it will do. if. with 

 a gouge, you have made one or two incisions in 

 the bark just at the bottom of the graft. The 

 ground about pear trees should be kept under 

 constant and deep cultivation. 



Wil.VV ARE THE BEST MANURES FOR PEAR TRPZES ? 



A chemical analysis of the ash of the pear tree 

 shows that potash, phosphate of lime, carbonic 

 acid and lime constitute about 88 j)arts in 1(»() of 

 its qualities. The manures, tlien, that are best 

 adapted to pears are clearly those which contain 

 the most of these several ingredients, and in the 

 proportions in which they art found in the tree it- 

 self Good stable manure, composted with peat 

 or mud, is, therefore, generally speaking, the best 

 manure, but if tlie land is hilly, ashes, salt and 

 plaster should be added ; but if it is low and wet, 

 charcoal, bo7ie manure, soap suds, and especially 

 night soil, should be used. A very ex])erienced 

 and oliserving cultivator has informed me thit the 

 contents of sewers, and particularly night soil, are 

 the veiy best manures for bringing barren ])ear 

 trees into a productive state. This whole subject 

 needs to be subjected to the most thorough and 

 scientific experiments, for the matter of carefully 

 ada])ting manures to the natures of difl'erent vege- 

 tables, so as to bring them to the greatest degree 

 of perfection, is yet but little understood by the 

 most intelligent horticulturists. Scientific physi- 

 cians will not prescribe the same medicliu's for 

 cholera morbus, diabetes, and the toothache, and 

 farmers should not apply the same manure indis- 

 criminately to all sorts of vegetables and fruits. 



PRINING AND THINNING. 



Pear trees require but little pruning, and es])e- 

 cially but little should be done the same year. A 

 pear tree is not usually a very handsome tree. An 

 aj)ple tree can be so gi-afted, ])runed and guided 

 in its growth as to be made a large, sjjreading, 

 well balanced, and symmetrical tree. Art can 

 make it really beautiful. But a pear tree, under 

 any circumstances, can hardly be called a bcauti- 

 ftd object. It appears the best when it is young, 

 but usually becomes more and more unsightly the 

 older it grows. Some human beings are so ugly 

 in their apjiearance that, more than others, they 

 are put upon their good behavior to make some 

 amends for tlieir homeliness, and they are obliged 

 to extract all the consolation they can from the 

 old maxim, " Handsome /s that handsome does." 

 It is something so with pear trees. "We must put 

 them u])on their good behavior, and if they will 

 produce us handsome fruit, we will square tlie ac- 

 count with them as to the matter of beauty. 



Pear trees require less pruning than any of our 

 common fruit trees, excej)! the cherry. Grapes 

 grow upon wood wlxich is made the same year, 



