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THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



spring if the weather is at all favourable. In 

 mild springs we have seen it in leaf at the 

 usual grafting season in March, and we have 

 also seen the plants headed down at that period 

 and grafted, but with very bad results. Either 

 the grafts did not take at all, or but imper- 

 fectly, for the Quince stock, having been cut 

 when the sap was flowing, died back to a 

 considerable distance below the place where 

 it was cut over, so that if the lower part of 

 the scion did unite with the Quince the upper 

 part of the splice could not. To the circum- 

 stance of not cutting down Quince stocks 

 till their vegetation is too far advanced is 

 chiefly to be attributed the want of success 

 in grafting them with the Pear. The stocks 

 should be cut down in January nearly to 

 the place most eligible for grafting. It is then 

 advisable to leave a little to be cut off at the 

 time of grafting, because severe frost may ensue, 

 and occasion some small splits or cracks in the 

 exposed section of the stock. 



In using the Quince as a stock we want its 

 root, and but very little of its stem — no more of 

 it indeed than is sufficient to receive the scion. 

 If the scion were placed, say 9 inches or 1 

 foot above the surface, the Quince portion of 

 the stem below that height would most pro- 

 bably not increase in thickness in the same 

 ratio as the Pear, and thus, instead of the stem 

 being thickest near the ground, it would be 

 abruptly smaller. The Quince should therefore 

 be worked close to the ground, so as to have 

 no portion fully exposed to the drying in- 

 fluences of the sun and air. Whip-grafting 

 is the best to adopt. After the scions are 

 on the stocks it is a good plan to earth them 

 up as high as the top of the junction. 



As the roots of the Quince run close under 

 the surface, and as it would not be advisable 

 to disturb them by taking soil for earthing 

 up from between the rows of stocks, it should 

 be taken from the alleys or elsewhere. When 

 these particulars are attended to, the failures 

 are very few. Of all things, the necessity for 

 cutting down the stocks early in January 

 should be particularly borne in mind. It may 

 even be done in December. 



When intermediate stocks are worked on the 

 Quince, the usual method is to allow the latter 

 to make two years' growth; then bud or graft 

 the intermediate variety upon that, again allow- 

 ing two years' growth; then cut the second 

 stock back to within a few inches of the Quince, 

 and graft the desired variety upon this. By 

 this means the roots are always four years older 



than the scion, which makes a material differ- 

 ence to the subsequent progress. 



Diseases. — Canker. The principal disease to 

 which the Pear-tree is subject is canker, which 

 attacks some varieties more than others ; indeed, 

 in both the Apple and Pear this disease manifests 

 itself in a manner so nearly alike, that what 

 has been said of it in regard to the one fruit is 

 also applicable to the other. Extremes of mois- 

 ture and dryness at the root are to be guarded 

 against. Where canker makes its appearance, 

 the soil should not be made too rich, for over- 

 luxuriance of growth seems to encourage the 

 disease, at least in our variable and ungenial 

 seasons. It frequently happens that for several 

 weeks, with a warm south-west wind, vegetation 

 is much excited in the early part of the season, 

 and afterwards all at once checked for almost as 

 long a period. This sudden stagnation must 

 affect the tree injuriously, and a tendency to 

 canker is the consequence. 



Various Pears, such as the Jargonelle, in 

 many localities are apt to suffer from canker 

 in the open ground, but they continue healthy 

 against a wall, all other circumstances being 

 the same. The growth of shoots should be 

 encouraged as much as possible in the early 

 part of the summer, in order that the wood 

 may be matured before frost sets in. When 

 the trees commence growing, and shoots are 

 being rapidly made, care should be taken that 

 they receive no check from want of moisture; 

 for if it is then stopped the trees are more 

 disposed to grow late in autumn, which is 

 not desirable. A Pear-tree that may have 

 at one time too little moisture is badly com- 

 pensated by having too much at another time. 

 Roots that are rendered inactive from being 

 in dry soil cannot be supposed to act so well, 

 when abundance of moisture reaches them, as 

 others that have never suffered from dryness. 

 If we wished to favour canker in a tree, we 

 should select one that had grown vigorously 

 during some rather moist season, and in the 

 first dry hot year, when the roots had ab- 

 sorbed all the moisture within their reach, and 

 could only yield a very inadequate supply to 

 the leaves to make up for evaporation, we 

 should afford it no assistance. Meanwhile 

 the leaves, deprived of their regular supply 

 from the roots, will drain the tree, growth will 

 be arrested or greatly checked, perhaps till 

 autumn, and then a late growth will ensue. It 

 is well known that shoots made under these 

 circumstances are soft and watery, never be- 

 coming matured, consequently they are ex- 



