AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
205 
RE-BOTTOMINGJ'RUIT TREES. 
PUTTING A NEW BOTTOM ON ONE PEAR 
TREE, AND SUPPLYING ANOTHER WITH 
THREE EXTRA LIVING LEGS. 
We present herewith an accurate 
representation of a very interesting 
specimen of a Beurre Diel Pear 
Tree now standing in the garden of 
Rev. A. Bullard,at Cambridge,Mass.* 
Its peculiarity consists in its having 
been furnished with an entirely new 
pear bottom, after having grown two 
or three years on a quince root. All 
are familiar with the process of sup¬ 
plying trees with a new top, by graft¬ 
ing or budding. This tree and others, 
one of which we shall refer to, 
show that it is just as practicable, 
though not so often necessary, to put 
on a new bottom. 
The tree before us is trained in the 
qucnouelle form, that is, tall with 
contracted branches bent downward. 
It is 14 feet in hight, and only 3 to 4 
feet wide at the widest spread of the 
branches. The trunk is 8| inches in 
circumference just above the upper 
grafting, and 7 inches round three 
feet from the ground. The present 
form of the base was secured as fol¬ 
lows : 
Some eight years since a Beurre 
Diel scion was engrafted upon a 
large quince stock, several inches 
above the ground, instead of budding 
below the surface as Mr. B. would 
now recommend. The head of the 
quince stock is shown a little above 
the ground in the left base stock. 
The first two years the pear scion 
grew very rapidly and vigorous. In 
the spring of the third year, fearing 
the quince stock might fail, and also 
as an experiment, Mr. B. took a peai 
stock of the second year’s growth, 
and set it out as near to the tree as 
the quince roots would allow, and 
joined its top to the original scion at 
the point where the two stocks meet. 
This was done by paring a little from 
both, joining them together, binding 
them with matting, and covering well 
with grafting composition. This pro¬ 
cess was minutely described and il¬ 
lustrated in our last number. (See 
page 184). On removing the matting 
in autumn it was found that the two 
had grown well together. The top 
of the new pear tree was afterwards 
removed, leaving the older tree stand¬ 
ing upon two living stocks, one the 
new pear, and the other partly pear 
and partly quince. The quince stock 
is eleven inches above the ground, 
the original pear stock twelve inches 
between the quince and the uniting 
points, and the new pear stock twenty-two to 
twenty-three inches in length. The swelling at 
the point of union is eleven inches in circumfer¬ 
ence. The body of the tree has become some¬ 
what flattened on the left side, owing to there be¬ 
ing apparently less nourishment derived from the 
old root than from the new. Indeed, the quince 
* For the drawing of this specimen we are indebted to the 
pencil of Mr. Wm. Titcomb, Teacher of Drawing and Oil Paint¬ 
ing at Cambridge, Mass. It was engraved for us at the “ Kcw- 
York School of Design for Women.” 
stock, which showed signs of failing last year, is 
now entirely dead, though it is left as an addition¬ 
al support. 
THREE EXTRA LEGS ON A PEAR TREE. 
Mr. Bullard produced a very curious as well as 
instructive specimen, by a process similar to the 
above. He planted a single pear tree on each of 
three sides of a Duchess d’Angouleme pear, which 
had been budded on a quince stock. These new 
trees were grafted into the central one and united 
wit h it,so that, besides its own quince 
root the Duchess pear tree stood upon 
three other legs, and derived support 
from them. This tree was killed by 
cold weather, and it has now been 
dead two years. It was a curiosity, 
though there is not the least difficul¬ 
ty in producing others like it. There 
is scarcely a limit to the forms that 
may be produced by common graft¬ 
ing, budding, and inarching or graft¬ 
ing by approach as explained at page 
184. 
Practical use may be made of the 
above process. Whenever any val¬ 
uable tree has been girdled by mice 
or otherwise injured at any point near 
the root, a new bottom may be sup¬ 
plied. We have seen cases where a 
short scion has been inserted, the one 
end above and the other below an in¬ 
jury, so as to completely bridge it 
over. 
AN IMPROVED SUPPORT FOR 
GRAPE VINES. 
Having heard of a new support 
for Grape Vines, we called at the 
grapery of William W. Crane, Esq., 
to give it an examination, and were 
much pleased with its admirable a- 
daptation and simplicity. In the 
usual arrangement wires are placed 
parallel with the rafters, the fixtures 
being all permanent; in the new plan 
the wires are placed at right angles 
with the rafters, the whole being 
movable. Eyed screws are put in the 
rafters about eighteen inches apart. 
Hooks about six inches long, and Oi 
an S shape, are hung in these eyed 
screws; and the wires are hung in 
the lower curve of the hooks. The 
wires are thus at right angles with the 
■afters, the distance between the 
wires being about eighteen inches, 
though the distance may be varied at 
pleasure. The wires hang about a 
foot from the glass, and the vines are 
laid on the wires instead of being tied 
up to them. 
We believe we have seen about all 
the various contrivances in use for the 
support of vines, but we think the one 
above described is superior to them 
all; and in these days of patents, we 
may as well add, it is not patented 
but may be used by every body. There 
is no advantage possessed by the com¬ 
mon arrangement that the new one 
does not possess in equal qr greater 
degree, besides some peculiar to it¬ 
self. 
Less tying up is needed, the vines, 
_in a manner, tying themselves by 
their tendrils; greater facilities are afforded for 
spreading out fruit branches, for summer prun¬ 
ing &c ■ the cost is less than half the best ar¬ 
rangements now in use ; last, but not least, the 
whole concern can be taken down in less than ten 
minutes. This latter fact not only insures a more 
thorough cleaning of the house, and consequent 
destruction of insects, but is a matter of much 
convenience if the house is used for other pur¬ 
poses, such as growing roses, &c., a use to which 
