PARADISE APPLE STOCKS, 397 
detailed descriptions of them are not given here. Some of them are 
interesting as approaching the true Doucin very closely, another is 
notable for the health and vigour which it displays, whilst yet another 
appears to be very weak and dwarfing. They vary too in rooting 
vigour. These types will also be tested on a small scale, in case any 
of them should prove of exceptional value. 
XVIII. Possible Origin and Identification of Types. 
It is not the intention in this report to deal at length with the 
origin of the various types and with their identification with historic 
types of Paradise. But in order to avoid misunderstanding it seems 
advisable to state that undoubtedly there has been a very considerable 
change of significance in the word ' Paradise.' Paradise can, in 
our trade sense, be no longer held to mean " Pyrus acerba D.C. 
(Malus acerba Merat), known to horticulturists under the name of 
Paradise," * which was supposed to be commonly found in a wild 
state in the woods. Though the Malus acerba may still have its 
representatives amongst the Paradise types of to-day — especially in 
Type VIII. does this seem likely — we know quite definitely that at 
least three of our common types, the Broad-leaved English, the 
Nonsuch, and the Jaune de Metz Paradise were merely chance seedlings 
selected as stocks because of certain tendencies they exhibited. f 
Chief among these tendencies was that of readiness to root when 
layered. This tendency is most frequently exhibited in apples by 
the appearance of small root-knots or excrescences on the stem 
and by the growth of adventitious roots near and on the surface 
of the ground. The characteristic is frequently described in the 
older writers, who described these root-knots very aptly as " burr- 
knots," and it is still commonly to be seen on some of the older 
Codlin apples. A close examination of any bed of stocks will soon 
reveal this habit amongst certain members. 
Figure 68 shows a " knotted " stock picked with several others 
from a bed of " Free " stocks, raised from seed. 
In the past any Apple showing this tendency was recommended 
as a stock, because the burr-knots indicated its readiness to root from 
layers or cuttings, and it was supposed to indicate root vigour. These 
facts are mentioned in order to show that the word ' Paradise ' 
possesses a much wider meaning than is sometimes supposed, and 
that Paradise stocks have arisen through various channels. 
Again, it should be pointed out that although we include the 
' Doucin ' to-day amongst Paradise stocks, and it is generally sold 
under the name of ' English Paradise,' it is very questionable whether 
* Grenier et Godron, Flore de France. 
t For the origin of Broad- leaf and Nonsuch, see the statements of their raiser 
and introducer, the late Mr. T. Rivers, 
The origin of the Jaune de Metz, which has a somewhat similar French 
history, is given in the Revue Horticole, 1879, p. 437. 
