March 2. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
417 
PEARS ON QUINCE STOCKS. 
I must confess, that, with an earnest desire to offer a 
little advice on another subject, I am tempted to set 
aside my design by the excellent observations made by 
Mr. C. B. Saunders, at p. 285, January 12th of the 
current year. 
Most of your readers may know that Mr. Saunders is 
a Jersey nurseryman of long standing; and as to evi¬ 
dence concerning Pears, who shall despise Jersey 
advice, especially if emanating from such a quarter? 
Mr. Saunders is certainly as unknown to me as I am 
to him, but his name and position are no secrets to me ; 
and I do confess, that his frank and generous recognition 
of me as an old labourer in the Pear-garden is a wel¬ 
come testimonial, inasmuch, as I feel a secret pride in 
meeting a fellow-labourer in the cause of truth in 
devious tracks, although, possibly, the parties com¬ 
menced their journey from very different points of the 
compass. 
I at once return Mr. Saunders the compliment lie 
paid me, “of learning something from my remarks.” 
Indeed, as to myself, I scarcely ever entered a garden, 
however mean, or read the opinions of another, but I 
learned something, and many a grey-headed veteran will 
confess the same. I, however, profess not to review the 
system of culture laid down by Mr. Saunders, which, (taken 
as a whole, and considered as referring to the Channel 
Islands, and, perhaps, our more southern counties), is, 
doubtless, up to the mark, yet will, I fear, scarcely be 
found applicable to our northern counties. 
My chief business in this paper will be to examine 
into the Quince stock question, and in doing so, I must, 
as in duty bound, pay more heed to the general ques¬ 
tion than to individual opinions; therefore, to those of 
my old friends with whom I may have the misfortune 
to differ, I merely say, please to bear with me. 
We must not, however, in discussing matters like 
this, beg one-half the question; it is all very well to say, 
“where the soil is suitable, &c.,” but tbe great misfor¬ 
tune is to have to grapple with unsuitable soils. Cer¬ 
tainly, any first-rate gardener, with all appliances, may 
work wonders, he may make a dry soil moist, a wet 
soil into a dry one, a poor into a rich one, a tenacious or 
stubborn soil into one of the utmost pliability. But 
those who cater for the majority, although occasionally 
they may, or try to, write up higher principles than 
thousands have the means of practising, yet must, after 
all, show to numberless smaller and less ambitious 
gardeners how they may, without extra cost, attain a 
respectable amount of success. 
I am glad to have my long-formed opinion better con¬ 
firmed by so able a person as Mr. Saunders. The 
opinion, that as a ground-work to the extension of the 
Quince stock, it is absolutely necessary that the soil be 
adapted to the Quince itself, the recognition of this 
principle, if it be correct, can alone, as a foundation, 
support a good superstructure. Well, then, this admit¬ 
ted, I would ask those gardeners of great experience, 
who have conducted matters of this kind in four or five 
counties in Britain, wide apart, in how many they have 
seen the Quince thriving to their entire satisfaction on 
unprepared soil. 
As to the free stock; we find Bears, in all quarters, 
and on soils widely differing, generally thriving as to the 
principle of growth. I had some of the newest Pears 
from Mr. Rivers, about four years since, all on the 
Quince, from which I was led to expect great things, but 
they have turned out a complete failure. I had selected 
with a view to enlarge the amount of late or heavy 
kinds, adapted to inferior climates. They were planted 
carefully against a wall having an eastern exposure, 
and the soil prepared in a way, as I thought, adapted to 
the Quince, but they have not grown a foot since I ob¬ 
tained them, and they look as if they would never cover 
the wall. A neighbour of mine, a reverend gentleman, 
who takes a delight in his garden, had several of the ! 
newest kinds on the Quince, about the same time, and j 
I have heard him express much disappointment over [ 
his little fancy trees. Now the soil, in general, about f 
here, is rather sandy, and in the two cases I have quoted i 
the subsoil is dry, doubtless too dry; and I think it just 
to mention all these little things, inasmuch as my object ] 
is by no means to lessen the desire for the Quince,'but 
merely to sharpen people’s wits, and to make them pro¬ 
ceed with caution, in order to lessen the chances of 
future disappointment, and to lead to the possibility of 
one day placing the question on a sure and well-ascer¬ 
tained foundation. I doubt not that Air. Saunders, 
whose urbane style is, I think, unmistakeable, will ex¬ 
cuse my thus handling the Quince rather roughly, and 
for proceeding a little further with this most interesting, 
although perplexing question. Mr. Saunders quotes 
Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Hants, Essex, Suffolk, as 
likely counties for the Quince : a goodly array of warm 
quarters, to be sure ; but then, what are they to all the 
remaining counties in England ; to say nothing at all, 
for the present, of Scotlamd or Ireland; for folks there 
love a mellow Pear, and have and desire to enjoy the 
product of their oxen little gardens. 
I have, for years, urged the importance of soils of an 
alluvial character; and that if not so, that character 
must be imitated, if success is expected. Here I find, 
with much pleasure, Air. Saunders and I meet; he says, 
—“ Very dry soils, in high situations, will not suit.” 
Now this, if confessed, at once points to the severity of 
limits imposed on the Quince stock, or to such highly 
artistic and expensive proceedings as will ill suit the 
general conditions under which the thousands of small 
gardeners scattered over the kingdom are placed. And 
if so, how is it that our great nurserymen, who have 
made a good thing of the Pear propagation, never in¬ 
formed their customers of so great a fact ? 
Air. Saunders speaks of using sea-sand, lime, and salt, 
in a compost for Pears on the Quince. I have little 
doubt that the advice is judicious, as regards the sea- 
sand and lime, and probably it has been found whole¬ 
some practice with our friends of the little isles, who, 
having such things at command, and close at hand, have 
doubtless tried them repeatedly, Aloreover, I have ever 
found that the Quince thrives best in a soil that is close 
and fine in texture; in fact, in one that would be called, 
by old practitioners, unctious; a broad term, to be sure, 
for our adhesive loams will fall under this head. It is 
not, however, a matter of loams, for loam alone may not 
settle this question. There is a character of soil, well 
known to gardeners, of a darkish, fatty character, that 
is somewhat moist in almost all weathers, and yet not 
wet, which is rich in some kind of humus or organic 
matter, and which, indeed, our Johnstons, Ways, or 
other celebrated agricultural chemists would better de¬ 
fine than I can. This kind, I say, is the thing, in my 
opinion, for the Quince. I do not say that it is the only 
kind in which the Quince will thrive; I know better; but 
it is the kind of compost that I would advise those who are 
highly interested in the question to imitate ; and it' the 
subsoil, at about a couple of feet below tbe ground level, 
possesses a permanency of moisture, not wet, why, I 
verily believe that all the conditions requisite for the 
Pear on the Quince are present; the climate over-head 
being tolerably propitious or improved by a well- 
judged assiduity. 
But now, I must just begto take another glimpse at Air. 
Saunders’ most interesting paper, one which is, indeed, 
highly suggestive. Air. Saunders heads rather low on tho 
stock in order to plant low; and others call into action 
the fibres from the graft or bud, as well as tho roots of 
the Quince; for, as he justly observes, such a course 
