FEBRUARY. 
33 
bushes, however, that grew them were very high fed in the summer months with 
weak liquid manure made from deers’ dung, and the fruit suffered in consequence 
in flavour, which I fancy all large Pears do, even those from France, where not 
grown in pots. Old standard Pear trees, or even young ones, produce higher 
flavoured fruit than wall trees of the same kinds. The best flavoured and juiciest 
Pears I ever tasted were grown on a standard Marie Louise that had grown to 
a great height in an orchard. The tree seldom bore fruit, but when it did, no wall 
fruit of the kind could compare with them for the fine russet colour and flavour. 
The highest flavoured of my Pears in pots this year was the Glou Morceau, which 
was delicious, and the fruit very large and clear in the skin, like the foreign- 
grown. 
The Apples grown in pots consisted of the following varieties, and are like¬ 
wise arranged according to their season—Early Fed, Margaret, Devonshire 
Quarrenden, Irish Peach, Kerry Pippin, King of the Pippins, Scarlet Pearmain, 
Cox’s Orange Pippin, and the Margil, an old high-flavoured variety, and a great 
bearer. The Apples grown were of the earliest dessert sorts, as plenty of the late 
kinds could be had out of doors for the winter supply. 
William Tillery. 
CRASANNE D’HIYER (BRUNEAU) PEAR. 
It is of no consequence where this Pear comes from—its history is of no im¬ 
portance ; its parentage equally valueless. Twelve years ago I was induced to 
purchase several plants of this kind from the flaming account given of its good 
qualities in a nurseryman’s catalogue, which lays great claim to infallibility. So 
high were its merits, the possession of it was made a sine qua non. 
People who describe the quality of fruit should be very careful not to foist 
it upon the public without a due examination of its character, as it is no light 
matter to discover after years of patient cultivation, that we had been nursing an 
insignificant object. I have now had this variety in a fruitful state for eight years 
past, and during that long period we have not had a single fruit fit for dessert. 
This is. the only season that it has condescended to offer any symptoms of softening, 
and then it is quite as floury and dry as mealy Potatoes, and as repulsive to the 
taste as an old woolty Turnip. I observe that it has been transferred in some 
fruit catalogues to the section of stewing Pears. Why not expunge it at once ? 
What use is it there, while we possess so many varieties in that class, such as 
Leon le Clerc cle Laval, Uvedale’s St. Germain, Catillac, and Bellissime d’Hiver? 
We all willingly admit that soil and situation exercise a potent influence over the 
quality of fruit: hence it is but just that I should mention the conditions under 
which the fruit I condemn has been grown. The border is well drained, and 
made of turfy loam, about 2 feet deep. The trees are trained horizontally 
against a wall on a south-east aspect. Now what shows off the inferior character 
of Crasanne d’Hiver (Bruneau) so strongly arises from the fact that Beurre Diel, 
Ne Plus Meuris, and Bcrgamotte Esperen are grown side by side, exactly under 
the same conditions, and these yearly yield very superior fruit. 
Tortioorth Court . Alexander Cramb. 
STOCKS EOR VINES. 
Mr. Thomson’s excellent article in the January Number of the Florist 
and Pomologist cannot fail to be interesting to the majority of the culti¬ 
vators of the Vine, and it behoveth us to be somewhat cautious in treating 
on the subject after such an authority, whose opinions carry weight with them, 
being founded upon extensive practice, That the stock influences the graft to a 
more or less extent, seems from the experiments hitherto tried, to be most con¬ 
clusive : hence arises the necessity of ascertaining the most suitable stock for the 
most tender and difficult kinds. We are naturally led to look to those strong¬ 
growing, robust, constitutional kinds, of which the Barbarossa is a true type, as 
the very identical kind whereupon to graft our tender varieties; but practice 
