PEARS. 



127 



anyone who has not tried the process could 

 believe possible. 



The winter routine of Pear-culture should 

 include what pruning may be needed, and 

 the application of cleaning solutions to the 

 stems and branches as a preventive measure 

 against attacks of fungus disease and bark 

 parasites. The substances to be used and the 

 method of applying them are dealt with in 

 other chapters of this work, and need not be 

 detailed here. The same remark also applies 

 to the summer spraying against attacks of 

 insect pests. 



Propagation. — The Pear-tree may be increased 

 by cuttings, but the process is too slow to be 

 recommended, and we only mention it as a 

 means of securing a variety which might other- 

 wise be lost through the failure of buds or 

 grafts. Cuttings in such a case might be 

 struck, so as to keep the variety alive till a 

 favourable opportunity occurred for working 

 from them. If it were desired to have trees 

 on their own roots, layering might be resorted 

 to. We are not aware, however, that there 

 would be any advantage in this. 



Budding and grafting are the modes gener- 

 ally adopted for the propagation of the Pear. 

 Stocks are necessary before the propagation 

 can take place, and these accordingly require 

 to be first taken into consideration. 



The Pear Stock is the most natural for the 

 Pear; on it, consequently, the trees possess 

 the greatest vigour, and attain the greatest 

 age. The stocks are reared from seeds, either 

 of the Wild Pear or of the varieties cultivated 

 for perry, as the seeds can be obtained in the 

 greatest abundance from these sources. The 

 seedlings are reared in the same way as Apple 

 stocks. In transplanting, those of a crooked 

 habit, or which do not exhibit a free upright 

 mode of growth, should be rejected. In the 

 seed-bed, some will be observed of taller growth 

 than others; and after the first transplantation 

 a certain portion will again take the start of 

 others. When about to be finally planted 

 out in rows for grafting or budding, the best 

 should be selected, so that all the plants in 

 each row may be of equal height and strength. 

 For standards, the stocks should be planted 

 out at least two years, in order that the 3 7 oung 

 shoots which they produce may possess the 

 requisite degree of vigour. They may either 

 be grafted near the ground, at half, or at the 

 full intended height of the stem. In the case 

 of such varieties as are of a weakly, spread- 

 ing habit of growth, it is better that the stock 



should be allowed to grow up to form the stem 

 of the tree; but with regard to varieties that 

 have a vigorous upright growth, and are not 

 disposed to canker, it is preferable that the 

 stem consist of the variety worked low and 

 trained up, the method usually adopted at the 

 present time. 



Before the sap rises in spring the stocks 

 should be cut back nearly to where the graft 

 is to be placed. The scions ought likewise 

 to be cut off before their vegetation is excited 

 by mild weather; they may, nevertheless, be 

 taken and worked at any time before the leaves 

 expand. In this case it is advisable to pick 

 out the buds which have started growing, as 

 they would evaporate the sap and dry the 

 scion before it could unite so as to derive 

 nourishment from the stock. There are usually 

 two small buds, one on each side of the prin- 

 cipal one, and they generally remain dormant; 

 but when the central bud is removed the sap 

 flowing towards it is shared by the lateral ones, 

 and they consequently become developed so 

 as to contribute to the formation of a union 

 with the stock. 



Although grafting may be thus effected and 

 advantageously practised in particular cases, 

 yet it can only be considered as an exception 

 to the general rule — that of cutting the scions 

 before the buds exhibit signs of starting. The 

 scions should be kept till the grafting season, 

 in the same way as already directed for those 

 of the Apple. 



Quince Stocks. — The Quince is readily propa- 

 gated for stocks by cutting down the plants 

 when they are strong enough to throw vigorous 

 shoots, and the bases of these are covered 

 with earth in order that they may form roots. 

 This mode is adopted in the neighbourhood 

 of Paris, but better plants will be produced 

 by layering at any time during the winter 

 months, and proceeding in the following 

 manner: — When the young shoots are laid 

 down, there should not be more than two eyes 

 left above ground, and when those have grown 

 5 or 6 inches long, one of them should be 

 cut clean off, leaving the other to form the 

 plant, which by the autumn will be 3 feet high. 

 The layers must be taken off the stools as soon 

 as the leaves are fallen, and planted out in 

 rows at 3 feet apart from row to row, and 

 10 or 12 inches from plant to plant in the row. 

 At the end of one or two years they will be 

 fit to bud or graft with the different sorts of 

 Pear. 



The Quince commences growing early in 



