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These are slow growers, but produce at an early age very fine fruit. 
Some varieties, as the Duchess d’Angouléme and the Bartlett, do 
particularly well on quince roots; whilst, on the other hand, with 
some other sorts, as the Seckel, the quality is not so good on the 
quince. As a rule, dwarf pears on quince roots require a moister 
and stiffer soil than the standard on pear roots. When manuring 
these pears, the fertilisers should, besides, be placed closer to the 
butt of the quince stock, as its roots are not so searching as are 
those of the pear. 
While some varieties unite well on the quince cthers, which would 
not unite directly on that stock, would do well double-worked, 1.¢., 
by first working the variety that makes a perfect union directly on 
the quince, and then by either budding or grafting the variety that 
does not succeed directly on the quince. Not only, says Mr. W. J. 
Palmer (Momohaki Experimental Station, New Zealand), does the 
tree become fruitful at an early period, but it is larger and of 
better quality. 
For sandy soil, such as oceurs on the littoral of this State, the 
Oriental pears (Chinese and Japanese) or their hybrids ars better 
stocks than either pear seedlings or the quince. These varieties do 
best on a light loam on a well-drained slope, whereas the standard 
or pear seedling prefers a light loam with a clay subsoil, such as 
is met with on the Darling Ranges, where pears of a great degree 
of excellence are produced. 
Plum Stock. 
Few plum stocks do not sucker; amongst them are the cherry 
plum or Myrobolan and the Mariana (Prunus cerasifolia), of 
which there are two varieties, the red and the white. This stock, 
however, does not suit greengages and some small round plums, but 
is a good stock for the: Diamond and Orleans types. The Mariana 
is propagated from rooted cuttings. Seedling plums of any free 
growing variety are also used, as also the black Damas and St. 
Julian, but these only prove partly suitable. ‘They are at times used 
for stocks for apricots or peaches as well as plums. Some nursery- 
men use ordinary plum suckers with advantage, but on this point 
opinion is divided; others layer plum wood, and eut off into separ- 
ate plants the shoots which spring up. Plum stocks are used for the 
peach in preference to the peach or the almond stocks, when the 
ground is stiff and wet, but they are often disappointing, and the 
peach top often dies back with little warning. For dwarfing the 
plum, the Sloe may be used with advantage. 
Mr. Hy. Copor,. nurseryman, Wirrabara, South Australia :— 
Plums and prunes on Myrobolan are a distinct failure compared 
with prunes on the apricot at their side. The best stock for profit, 
says he, is the apricot, and if he intended planting prunes, he 
would use the apricot. It is a matter for regret that the conditions 
