366 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  4,  1899. 
STOCKS  FOR  FRUIT  TREES. 
“  Having  read  with  pleasure  Mr.  Lambert’s  and  Mr,  Pearson’s 
-observations  on  stocks  for  fruit  trees,  on  pages  314  and  337  respectively, 
1  should  be  glad  if  you  could  iind  and  republish  an  article  by  the 
late  Mr.  Thomas  Eivers,  which  appeared  in  the  Journal  of  Horticulture 
about  thirty  years  ago.  I  have  often  thought  it  was  the  best  con¬ 
tribution  on  the  subject  I  have  ever  read,  and  many  times  regretted 
I  did  not  preserve  it.  I  can  only  say,  as  a  guide  for  its  discovery, 
that  it  appeared  scon  after  the  tit'e  of  our  Journal  was  changed  from 
the  ‘Cottage  Gardener.’  As  a  young  gardener  then,  the  article 
interested  me  greatly,  and  I  took  some  extracts  from  it,  and  I  am 
sure  it  would  interest  many  readers  who  have  not  seen  it,  as  w'ell, 
perhaps,  as  some  who  have  a  reminder  of  old  times  and  old  masters.” 
Thus  writes  an  “  Old  Gardener,”  and  we  are  glad  to  comply  with 
his  wishes.  We  may  now  say  that  Mr.  Lambert’s  article  w'as  written 
for  and  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Hessle  Gardeners’  Society,  a  fact 
that  was  not  stated  on  his  M.S.  The  following  is  Mr.  Rivers’  article. 
STOCKS  FOR  APPLE  TREES. 
There  is,  I  think,  nothing  more  interesting  to  the  practical 
horticulturist,  and  I  may  also  add,  to  the  theorist,  than  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  the  stock  on  the  graft,  in  plainer  words,  on  the  tree  grafted 
•on  to  a  stock,  and  the  converse  of  the  proposition,  the  effect  of  the 
g^raft  on  the  stock.  The  latter  being  of  a  far  more  extensive  nature 
than  the  former,  jet,  as  it  seems  to  me,  not  much  known  or  expatiated 
-on  by  horticultural  writers. 
Influence  of  Stocks. 
There  is,  as  far  as  I  have  experienced,  no  fact  so  prominent  in  fruit 
culture  as  the  effect  of  the  Paradise  or  surface-rooting  stocks  on  the 
Apple  tree.  By  the  simple  choice  of  a  stock  we  can  make  a  giant  into 
a  pigmy ;  and  such  varieties  as  Bess  Pool,  of  which  I  have  seen  trees 
Tivalling  large  Oaks  in  magnitude;  the  Bedfordshire  Foundling,  the 
Tower  of  Glamis,  the  Blenheim  Orange,  and  other  vigorous-growing 
sorts,  can  be  at  once  reduced  to  small  garden  trees,  rapidly  arri%dng  at 
sort  of  premature  maturity,  and  bearing  profusely,  which  is  brought 
^ibout  by  merely  selecting  the  kind  of  stock  likely  to  produce  such  a 
result. 
The  Feench  Paeadise. 
The  variety  best  knoAvn  by  the  gardeners  of  the  last  century 
is  that  which  we  now  call  the  French  Paradise,  “  Pommier  de  Paradis.” 
This-would  seem  to  be  of  Eastern  origin,  for  some  few  j’ears  since  the 
London  Horticultural  Society  introduced  the  “  Dwarf  Apple  of  Armenia,” 
which,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  was  identical  with  the  Pommier  de 
Paradis.  This  kind  of  stock  is  noticed  by  Miller  in  his  Dictionary, 
in  the  edition  about  1750.  I  append  an  extract  from  it,  which 
may  interest  some  of  your  readers,  showing  as  it  does  that  there  is 
nothing  new  in  what  has  been  said  in  your  columns  about  Paradise 
stocks. 
The  peculiarity  of  the  French  Paradise  is  its  remarkable  effect  on 
the  graft,  dwarfing  it  to  an  extent  scarcely  credible.  The  proportions 
of/ growth  are  something  as  follows  : — A  tree  two  years  old  on  it  will 
be  about  2  feet  in  height,  and  covered  with  blossom-buds.  A  tree  of 
the  same  age,  and  growing  under  the  same  circumstances,  grafted  on 
the  Doucin,  will  be  from  3  to  4  feet  in  height,  and  well  furnished  with 
blossom-buds,  but  not  so  abundantly  as  thetreeon  the  French  Paradise. 
A  tree  on  the  English  Paradise  stcck  will  attain  the  same  height,  and 
be  in  the  same  condition  as  to  bearing  as  that  on  the  Doucin,  A  tree 
grafted  on  the  Crab  or  Apple  stock  will  at  the  same  age  be  7  feet  high, 
and  unless  one  of  our  free-bearing  sorts,  such  as  the  Keswick  Codlin, 
Hawthornden,  and  some  kinds  of  the  like  habit,  will  be  bare  of  blossom- 
buds.  I  give  these  result  not  as  being  exact,  but  to  convey  an  idea  of 
the  effect  of  the  different  stocks  I  have  named. 
Expeeiments. 
The  Pommier  de  Paradis  has  been  found  too  delicate  for  some 
-soils  and  sites  in  England.  I  have  found  it  so  at  Sawbridgeworth, 
and  Mr,  Pearson  of  Chilwell  has  experienced  the  like  in  his  deep  fertile 
loamy  soil.  Fearing  that  I  might  have  made  my  two  or  three  essays 
•on  a  soil  too  cold,  I  made  a  further  trial,  and  had  500  planted  in  a 
fine  deep  sandy  loam,  in  the  middle  of  a  quarter,  with  500  Doucins  on 
one  side,  and  500  English  Paradise  on  the  other.  The  Pomraiers  de 
Paradis  nearly  all  soon  died  from  canker — no  frost  seemed  to  do  them 
®Dy  injury  while  the  two  kinds  of  stocks  I  have  named  here  produced 
healthy  trees  free  from  any  disease.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  in  some 
soils  and  sites  this  stock  is  delicate.  Against  this  w'e  have  the  experi- 
■ence  of  Mr.  Scott,  who  states  that  with  him  this  stock  is  perfectly 
healthy.  This  is,  no  doubt,  owing  to  his  warm,  fertile  soil,  and  the 
soft  air  of  Somersetshire,  which  is  very  different  to  the  harsh,  dry  air 
of  Hertfordshire. 
J  here  is  a  curious  fact  relative  to  this  stock  which  belongs  to  my 
second  postulate,  but  should  be  mentioned  here.  If  a  healthy  graft  is 
jdaced  on  a  French  Paradise  stock  the  first  year  after  being  planted 
(stocks  are  for  the  most  part  grafted  the  second  year),  it  seems  to  give 
health  and  vigour  to  the  stock  and  to  rescue  it  from  canker.  It  is  very 
curious  to  see  trees  in  pots  on  tMs  stock  after  three  or  four  years’ 
growth;  the  graft  swells  over  and  forms  a  large  circular  protuberance, 
as  if  impatient  to  escape  from  its  thraldom ;  and  the  roots  of  the  graft 
break  out  close  under  the  swollen  part;  so  that  if  the  base  of  the 
graft  were  covered  it  would  put  forth  roots,  and,  to  use  Miller’s  words, 
“  would  be  equal  to  no  stock.”  It  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  watch 
in  the  graft  this  apparent  yearning  for  more  food.  Apple  trees  on  the 
Pommier  de  Paradis  form  the  prettiest  and  most  fruitful  of  all  bush 
trees  when  cultivated  in  pots.  Seedling  pigmy  stocks  have  been  raised 
here.  These  will  probably  prove  hardier  than  the  French  Paradise, 
and  have  the  same  dw'arfing  teudencj'. 
The  English  Paeadise. 
The  second  kind  of  Paradise  stock  deserving  of  a  few  words  is  the 
English  Paradise  stock — a  very  old  variety,  which  some  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago  I  used  to  receive  from  the  Knap  Hill  Nursery,  where  it  was 
propagated  by  layers.  It  was  very  distinct  in  its  habit,  and  bad 
rather  large  ronndish  leaves  and  pale  bark.  As  far  as  I  recollect,  this 
was  the  only  kind  of  Paradise  stock  employed  in  those  days,  and  then 
to  a  very  limited  extent;  for  100  Apple  trees  on  Paradise  stocks 
then  sold  I  should  calculate  that  5000  are  now  (1867)  sent  out  by 
nurserymen.  There  are  some  seedling  stocks  of  this  race — two  raised 
here,  and  one  of  them,  called  the  Broad-leavtd  Paradise,  resembles 
the  sort  I  shall  next  describe.  They  all  swell  with  the  graft,  and 
produce  healthy,  fruitful  garden  trees. 
The  Doucin. 
The  third  variety  of  the  Paradise  stock  race  is  the  Doucin.  This 
is  probably  of  French  or  Dutch  origin.  1  here  are  several  varieties  of 
ic,  some  of  them  worthless  from  their  liability  to  canker.  Those  w  ith 
small  leaves  like  the  Crab  are  to  be  avoided.  The  true  sort  has  large 
pointed  leaves  of  a  dark  green  ;  the  bark  on  its  young  shoots  is  of  a 
very  dark  browm  spotted  with  white ;  its  leaves  are  more  pointed  than 
those  of  the  Broad-leaved  Paradise  mentioned  above,  and  not  quite  so 
large;  it  does  not  swell  with  the  graft  so  w’ell  as  the  English  Paradise 
stocks,  but  it  forms  healthy  and  fruitful  garden  trees. 
The  Buee  Knot. 
The  next  race  of  surface-rooting  Apple  stocks  is  the  Burr  Knot, 
the  old  varietv’.  The  Burr  Knot  of  most  of  our  gardens  bears  very 
fine  fruit,  and  is  a  valuable  kitchen  Apple.  Like  all  of  the  Paradise 
race  of  stocks  it  roots  from  truncheons,  or  stout  two  and  three-year- 
old  shoots,  planted  in  the  ground,  reminding  one  of  the  orchardists  at 
Valparai.?o  and  other  parts  of  Chili,  who  do  not  plant  a  tree  but  a 
branch,  which  takes  root,  and  at  once  forms  a  bearing  tree.  This 
brings  to  mind  the  Burr  Knot  Apple  at  Ware  Park,  Herts,  there 
called  “  Byde’s  Walking-stick  Apple,”  simply  because  an  old  magis¬ 
trate  who  lived  there  early  in  the  present  century  used  to  stick  in  a 
branch  of  the  Burr  Knot  wherever  he  thought  an  Apple  tree  wanting. 
The  trees  are  there  still  (1867). 
The  “burrs”  which  form  on  the  stems  of  Apple  trees  are,  or  seem  to 
be,  bunches  of  incipient  roots.  The  English  Codlin,  formerly  employed 
as  a  dwarfing  stock,  and  m.entioned  by  Miller  as  being  used  for  that 
purpose,  has  burrs  on  its  stem ;  and  stout  shoots,  planted  rather 
deeplj',  will  root  and  make  dwarf  prolific  trees. — T.  R. 
[Extract  from  Miller's  “  Gardener's  Dictionary,”  1th  edition."} 
“The  Paradise  Apple  hath,  of  late  years,  greatly  obtained  for 
stocks  to  graft  or  bud  upon,  but  these  are  not  of  long  duration  ;  nor 
will  the  trees  grafted  upon  them  ever  grow  to  any  size,  unless  they 
are  planted  so  low  that  the  cyon  may  strike  root  into  the  ground,  when 
it  w'ill  be  equal  to  no  stock,  for  the  graft  will  draw  its  nourishment 
from  the  ground,  so  that  it  is  only  by  way  of  curiosity  or  for  verj' 
small  gardens  that  these  stocks  are  proper,  since  there  can  never  be 
expected  any  considerable  quantity  of  fruit  from  such  trees. 
“  These  trees  have  b  en  much  more  esteemed  in  France,  where  they 
were  frequently  brought  to  the  t.able  in  pots  growing  with  their  fruit 
upon  them  ;  but  this  being  only  a  curiosity  it  never  obtained  much 
in  England,  so  that  the  gardeners  do  not  propagate  many  of  them 
htrj  at  present. 
“There  is  another  Apple,  which  is  called  the  Dutch  Paradise  Apple, 
much  cultivated  in  the  nurseries  for  grafting  Apples  upon,  in  order  to 
have  them  dwarfs  ;  and  these  will  not  decay  or  canker  as  the  other, 
no  do  they  stint  the  grafts  near  so  much,  so  are  generally  preferred  for 
planting  espaliers  or  dwarfs,  being  easilj'  kept  within  the  compass 
usually  allotted  to  these  trees.” 
[Young  gardeners  and  others  will  recognise  that  the  Paradise 
stock  is  not  so  modern  as  some  of  them  conceive  it  to  be,  as  these 
observations  by  Miller  were  written  150  jears  ago.] 
