THE PEAR. 



419 



PLANTING PEARS ON 

 QUINCE STOCKS. 



which must cover the stock up to the junction 

 of the graft, to the letter a (fig. 193), " and this 

 is made of rich compost," in order to encourage 

 it to emit roots into the surface - soil, and to 

 keep it from becoming hard and " bark-bound." 

 To make this emission of roots more certain, the 

 stem may be tongued as used in layering ; i. e.> 

 the bark must be cut through upwards from the 

 root, and a slip about 

 Fig. 193. one inch in length 



raised, b, b, b, b, (which 

 are the raised pieces of 

 bark), and these raised 

 pieces of bark must be 

 kept open by inserting a 

 piece of broken flower- 

 pot or slate. Several 

 of these tongues may 

 be made, and by the 

 end of the first year 

 after planting, every in- 

 cision will have emitted 

 roots ; the stock, owing 

 to its being kept con- 

 tinual ly moist, will 

 swell and keep pace 

 with the graft, and the 

 tree will flourish and 

 remain healthy. As 

 the mound will sub- 

 side by the heavy 

 rains of winter, presuming the trees have been 

 planted in autumn, fresh compost of the same 

 nature must be added in spring, and again 

 every succeeding autumn. The great object in 

 the culture of the pear upon quince stocks, is to 

 encourage the growth of its very fibrous roots 

 at the surface, so that they may feel the full in- 

 fluence of the sun and air. These mounds may 

 be made ornamental, if required, by placing 

 pieces of rock or flint on them, which will also 

 prevent the birds scratching at them for worms; 

 but the stones selected must not be large and 

 heavy. In light friable soils, they may be 

 from 3 to 4 inches above the surface of the 

 surrounding soil ; in heavy, retentive, wet soils, 

 from 6 to 8 inches will not be found too 

 high." 



The soil for the pear, although moderately 

 moist, must, however, not be wet ; and to se- 

 cure this, efficient drainage should be provided. 

 And as it is an object of vast consequence, in a 

 cold climate, that the roots of all fruit-bearing 

 trees be kept as near the surface as possible, 

 the trees should be planted high, and the pre- 

 pared ground, whether wall borders or other- 

 wise, prepared in breadth of surface instead of 

 in depth, that the roots may be induced to ex- 

 tend in a horizontal direction, instead of going 

 down beyond the range of solar influence. 



The soil for pears upon quince stocks should 

 be somewhat tenacious, and rich in humus ; not, 

 however, so stiff as to retain water, but only to 

 the extent of being free from dryness. The 

 quince prefers a soil in which, if we may so 

 speak, a kind of subterranean irrigation is going 

 on, but nut constantly, and in which no stagna- 

 tion can take place. It appears to luxuriate 

 most when planted by the sides of streams that 



rise and fall frequently, such as those in connec- 

 tion with water-power mills, or when the influ- 

 ence of tides throws back the water in the under 

 strata for a few hours, and from whence it natu- 

 rally again recedes. To obtain for the quince, 

 or rather for pears wrought upon stocks of that 

 kind, a border soil in gardens so circumstanced 

 is quite possible, but not very convenient. The 

 nearest approach, therefore, will be to avoid light 

 sandy soils, and to employ only those of a sound 

 loamy nature, or what is in general called strong 

 loam, or the nearest approach to rich fribbly 

 clay. No doubt watering artificially during the 

 period of the fruit's swelling will go far to in- 

 crease its size ; and this we have found in prac- 

 tice to be attended with good results, more espe- 

 cially in dry seasons. Pears on quince stocks 

 succeed better in wet localities than in those 

 that are remarkable for their drought ; but in 

 such cases complete drainage should be pro- 

 vided underneath. 



Within the last half-century the pear has 

 undergone, not only in character, but also in 

 culture, a most important revolution ; few of 

 those, even of that recent date, that were then 

 considered excellent are now to be met with in 

 our best gardens, their places being taken by 

 others of superior merit. The number of varie- 

 ties has during the same period increased amaz- 

 ingly ; and, as a natural consequence, as these 

 differ from each other in habit, so must, to a 

 very considerable extent, the proper manage- 

 ment of them differ also, — for the stock, climate, 

 soil, mode of pruning, &c, suitable to one variety, 

 may be unsuitable to another. It is here our 

 great difficulty arises, and without a due consi- 

 deration of these points all hope of general suc- 

 cess must be abandoned. So much are even the 

 Belgian fruit-growers aware of this, that one of 

 their most eminent members, M. J. de Jonghe 

 of Brussels (from the introduction of whose de- 

 scriptive Pear Catalogue the following abbre- 

 viated translation is made), thus remarks : " It 

 is very difficult to lay down general rules for 

 the proper culture of the pear, and its numer- 

 ous interesting varieties, without a special mono- 

 graph, in which the character and circumstances 

 of every variety, in different soils, different cli- 

 mates, under different modes of pruning, whether 

 trained as espaliers, pyramids, or standards, as 

 well as the situation they are planted in, and 

 the stock on which they are wrought, were fully 

 established or ascertained. Such a work would 

 require very many years to complete. At pre- 

 sent the practical man looks upon the question 

 in a point of view appropriate only to his own 

 garden or nursery. Several treatises have been 

 published in which the authors have described 

 the results of their own experiments, often 

 founded on facts observed in certain locali- 

 ties ; but if these directions were afterwards 

 acted upon in other climates, and on different 

 soils, the expectations of the cultivator would 

 often be found far from successful. Before estab- 

 lishing a plantation of pears, it is first requisite 

 to examine the nature of the soil, its depth, the 

 situation of the garden, and, finally, the climate 

 in which they are to be placed. If the intention 

 is to plant pears either as standards, espaliers, 



