May 6. 
COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION. 
l 
But, if it be light that the buds, foliage, &c., of tender 
Pears are short of, why it leads altogether to another 
kind of proceeding. We must take care that no extra¬ 
neous or rampant foliage, from superfluous or gross 
growths, impedes what light our climate does really 
afford. This will less concern the pocket, by far, than 
building glass-houses; for our “ Mau Friday” can he 
taught to pinch off the heads of arrogant and over-luxu¬ 
riant spray. I may seem to some to he too particular 
in thus endeavouring to separate the parts of this ques¬ 
tion ; hut I think it important, in the present state of 
things, to do so. 
As to Soil, why it must naturally he supposed that 
persons about to plant Pears, or, indeed, any other fruit, 
will very naturally look at their ground, and see if the 
native soil is anyways fertile. I do not mean, is it rich 
in manorial matters; but is it right in texture—sound 
beneath ? Of course, Pears, like other fruits, have their 
likings as to soil; but were they particularly miffy on 
this head, they would scarcely maintain the important 
position they have long held in the dessert. One thing 
I hold concerning this part of the affair: Pears prefer 
what is called, amongst gardeners, a sound soil; that is 
to say, a soil that is slightly adhesive, or, in other words, 
a good loam. But that Pears may he grown in lighter 
soils, especially if somewhat dark, and slightly unctuous 
in character, we have abundant evidence. Pear soil, 
however, as to the choicer kinds, must he free beneath, 
as to water lodgment; and this concerns the argument 
much. Indeed, how few of our cultivated fruits can 
endure stagnated moisture beneath : if any, it is surely 
the Black Currant or the Raspberry. 
One thing here occurs to me, and, although a little 
out of place, I must name it:—Has the propagation of 
Pears from Cuttings , and thus growing them “ on their 
own bottoms,” ever had a fair trial? The same may he 
asked as to Apples; and I very much doubt if they have 
had this fair trial. That they would make dwarfer trees, 
and come into early bearing, there can, I think, be little 
doubt. Whatever might be the result of a thorough 
and fair trial, I should hut fear two things: first, that 
they would not he long enduring; and secondly, that 
they would require a stimulating compost. However, 
these are hut dreams, and as such I give them to Pear¬ 
growing people. 
As to Quince Stoulcs, I find it painful to condemn 
them, and difficult to praise them in anything like a 
wholesale way. I am perfectly aware that there are 
some kinds which succeed to admiration on them, in 
soils as we generally find them; perhaps about thirty 
per cent, of the whole catalogue. And here I would 
suggest to those nurserymen who take the van in Pear¬ 
growing, to be much more particular when they mako 
out their descriptive lists. I have tried kinds on the 
Quince which are in such lists, stated to flourish ad¬ 
mirably, and after being some four or five years in their 
situation they have scarcely yielded a good Pear. 
Indeed, how could they do so when their hark is in a 
constant state of excortication ? 1 had almost said they 
are infected with a kind of vegetable scrofula. This 
gangrenous kind of affection so corrupts and distorts 
the branches that the tree can make no growth ; it is, 
indeed, a dwarfing system, with a vengeance. But the 
fruit, also, attains no size; they become almost mi¬ 
croscopic objects, and might, from their hide-bound and 
rifled appearance, together with a very antique com¬ 
plexion, be called Mummy Pears. To be fair in the 
argument, I have seen such things on the wild or free 
stock; but, indeed, very seldom as compared with those 
on the Quince. I remember that, about thirty years 
since, the old St. Germains, then a useful Pear, and 
the famous old Brown Beurre, fell into a state of 
decline around the neighbourhood of Sandou, and a 
few years after, that once invaluable Pear, the old 
Crassane. It is of no use saying that all the new Pears ! 
which thus suffer do so for a like reason—what, perhaps, 1 
is called “wearing out ”—this I, for one, will not receive 
as fair evidence. R. Ekeington. 
Boyd's Scythes. —We have now had further oppor¬ 
tunities of trying both the Self-adjusting and the Vulcan 
Scythe, and, as the season for mowing is at hand, we 
again recommend them to our readers as the best im¬ 
plements in every respect that they can employ for 
efficiency and economy of labour. 
BEDDING GERANIUMS. 
The Scaelet Beeed. —From how many parents, or 
wild species, would you suppose have sprung the present 
race of Scarlet Geraniums ? or from how many wild 
parents have the present races of the florists’ Pelar- I 
goniums come down to us? These are two questions j 
easily put, but exceedingly difficult to answer satis- | 
factorily. The nearest guess which one could make, 
from a knowledge of all the kinds which are admired at 
the present day, would fall far short of the reality, to 
those who happen to know the wild material from which 
our flower-beds and show-tables of the present day have 
been filled. 
There are seven or eight well-marked sections into 
which the Scarlet Geraniums may be divided, and some 
of the sections branch out again into well-marked 
divisions, so that you might say a dozen forms of them, 
on a rough calculation, might and may be produced by 
one garden ; but I want representatives from every 
fractional section of the whole race, and if I get them 
all, as I am persuaded I shall, who knows but I shall 
be far on to a score of sectional divisions, all in one 
branch of the race of Pelargoniums ? It is to out- 
credit that we have made all these various forms out of 
two wild plants; some say four, but that is going too 
far, considering our present knowledge. 
There were several men who took particular note of 
the wild Geraniums as they were introduced, such as 
Cavanilles, a Spaniard, L’Heritier, a Frenchman, Jacquin, 
a German, with Andrews, Sweet, and Sims, of England, 
and others, all of whom were more or less liable to 
mistakes in making out the descriptions of one another 
in so very many forms bearing one family resemblance. 
The Cape Scarlet Inquinans, and the parents of Fother- 
gillii would produce, between them, the horse-shoe leaf; 
aud these three are certainly the foundation of all our 
present forms of the true Scarlet Geraniums, notwith¬ 
standing all the ink that has been spent by the afore¬ 
said authors and others to swell the number of originals. 
Of all the plain descendants of the “ Cape Scarlet,” 
Tom Thumb has gained most celebrity in the shortest 
time. He is descended from a royal race who had the 
next greatest run in their day—I mean the Frogmore 
Scarlet, which is a seedling by Mr. Ingram, the present 
Royal gardener at Windsor Castle ; and yet I have known 
both the Frogmores, the Frogmore and Improved Frog- 
more, as well as Tom Thumb, fail, year after year, on 
certain soils. Before I made a particular provision for 
them at Shrubland Park, I could not get them to any 
degree of excellence. Frogmore was in cultivation for 
live-and twenty years before that time, but none of my 
predecessors at Shrubland could do any thing with it. 
The principal scarlet in that place for years, previous 
to my time, was a strong grower, and such an inveterate 
seeder, that I hated the very sight of it; it was called 
the Old Scarlet. I could not make both ends meet 
without it, and to get rid of it for ever was the begin¬ 
ning of the celebrated collection of bedding kiuds for . 
which that garden is justly noted. After collecting and | 
