44 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDEXIXG. 



grounds, parks, woods, or gardens — these and such 

 as these favoured spots for Pears should be sought out 

 and utilised. It is altogether a mistake, pregnant 

 with, perhaps, nine-tenths of the failures in Pear- 

 culture, to plant Pears as a matter of course where 

 Apples or Cherries may do fairly well. Of course, 

 in good all-round climates, such as Kent, Surrey, 

 Herefordshire, and other favoured counties, Pears 

 may be planted with Apples and thrive equally well 

 or better. But in many other counties it is widely 

 different. In these the Pear needs warmer sites, 

 cosier nooks and corners, more shelter and care, than 

 the Apple or any other hardy fruit. 



As an illustration, it is no uncommon thing to meet 

 with magnificent Pear-trees of such fine sorts as the 

 Jargonelle, Maria Louise, Easter Beurre, Glout 

 Morceaux, and even the Chaumontel, more tender 

 than either, on the gable- ends of dwelling-houses, 

 where such varieties will hardly live in the open 

 gardens or orchards close by. The warmth of the 

 chimney makes all the difference, xlnd some of these 

 trees and their fine produce would pay well for a few 

 extra shovelfuls of fuel thrown on the last thing 

 during frosty nights in April, when the trees are in 

 bloom. 



The Selection of Pears for Local Climates. 



— This important branch of the subject may be said 

 to be yet in its infancy, and but little positive can be 

 stated on the subject. It seems likely, however, that 

 Pears grafted on the Quince are hardier than those 

 worked on the Pear, and were the latest available 

 varieties of either chosen as stocks valuable re- 

 sults might follow. As the Pear also takes fairly 

 well on the common 'White-thorn, it is possible 

 that some of the many species of Cratcegus may et 

 be used to impart greater hardiness, or what would 

 practically almost amount to the same thing, retard 

 the somewhat precocious development of our Pear- 

 blossoms and shoots in the early spring. All this is 

 of necessity somewhat speculative and problematic. 

 What is certain, and is being more clearly demon- 

 strated by every year's additional experience, is that 

 could we hold back our Peax-bloom a few weeks longer 

 in the spring, good crops would become the rule, not 

 the exception. 



Means for protecting Pear-blossom will come 

 ■under consideration in our general culture ; and 

 there is but little to add here on culture as a means 

 of modifying climate or the better fitting of the Pear 

 to the climate. Root-pruning, frequent lifting of the 

 roots in the early autumn, would, doubtless, do some- 

 thing towards the latter. Such violent disturbances 

 check, and hence hinder and delay growth. Growth 

 retarded in the autumn means a late start in the 

 spring, and so severe at times and long-continued is 



this interregnum to growth, that the trees may be a 

 month later in blooming in consequence. This 

 month's grace in blooming-time in the spring, or even 

 half of it, is often sufficient to save the Pear crop of 

 the season. 



Late pruning is another alternative towards the 

 better suiting of Pears to local climate. The late 

 pruner has forced his growing branches to decoy the 

 sap away from the expanding flower-buds, which are 

 then retarded through a diversion, as well as a 

 diminution of volume, of the advancing current of 

 fluid. By this compound action of the decoy wood- 

 buds the pressure on the fruit-blossoms has been les- 

 sened, and the speed of their growth slackened. The 

 late pruner virtually blows off vital force or steam, 

 though the shoots be cut off after they have broken 

 into leaf. The importance of this slackening of the 

 speed of the growing blossom-buds, and delay of 

 opening in the spring, can hardly be over-estimated. 

 A fortnight's delay in the opening of the flowers of 

 Pears in the spring makes all the difference between 

 a crop of fruit and complete failure,, in many of our 

 fickle seasons. 



The fitting of varieties for special conditions 

 can only be done through careful observation and a 

 wide experience. Certain sorts and varieties of Pears 

 seem more or less closely linked to different localities. 

 This is especially so with such fine varieties as Maria 

 Louise, Glout Morceaux, Beurre Diel, Winter Xelis, 

 &c. Even quality as well as fertility run in geo- 

 graphical lines or on geological zones at times. It is 

 only by carefully marking, learning, and, as it were, 

 inwardly digesting, the Pear produce of differing 

 localities, that one can give a sure and safe answer of 

 what Pear to plant in given districts, with the surest 

 prospects of pleasure or profit. 



PROPAGATION. 

 There are but four general methods of propagating 

 the Pear — by seeds, scions or buds, cuttings, and 

 layers ; and as the propagation of the Pear by these 

 methods differs but little from that of the Apple, 

 already described in detail, it will only be needful 

 to note those points on which the two differ. Hence, 

 in all points on which the instructions may seem im- 

 perfect or incomplete, the reader should- see Apples. 



Propagation by Seeds. — This is pursued for 

 two distinct and almost opposite objects, the origina- 

 tion of new and better varieties, and the providing of 

 stocks on which to bud or graft existing sorts. In 

 regard to the first, the majority of pomologists start 

 too late, ' and hence, possibly, the chief reason why- 

 such scant success has been attained by English 

 growers. They begin with the seed, whereas they 

 ought to start with the flower. In the seeds the 



