312 



very luxuriant, and bears early and abundantly : young slioots upright, 

 dark brown. The fruit requires to be gathered sooner than most pears,' 

 even before it parts readily from the tree. If it is then ripened in the 

 house it is always fine, while, if allowed to mature on the tree, it usually 

 becomes soft, flavorless, and soon decays. 



Fruit, large, oblong, obovate. — Skin, a little rough, ground pale yellow, 

 mostly covered with marblings and patches of light russett, becoming 

 reddish brown at maturity on the sunny side. — Stalk, rather short, from an 

 inch to an inch and a half long, pretty deeply planted in a peculiar nar- 

 row, round cavity. — Calyx, short, open, placed in a small round basin. — 

 Flesh, yellowish white, not very fine grained, but juicy, melting, very 

 saccharine and rich, with a slight musky flavor."' — Season, 20th Septem- 

 ber to 15th October. 



WELL DIGGING— A SCIEXCE. 



Prairie du Chiex, Dec. 10, 1852. 



Mr Dear Sir : — Good and wholesome spring water, is not only a desid- 

 eratum, but is absolutely necessary to human happiness and animal life, 

 and many, otherwise excellent tracts of land, are nearly valueless, because 

 living water is not at command. Of course, anything that will contrib- 

 ute to the discovery of this useful element, will add greatly to the value 

 of such lands, and to the health and comfort of their occupants. No 

 one could have travelled in some portions of our State, in dry seasons, 

 without being convinced of the truth of this remark. 



In the western portions of the State, the abundance of the pure spring- 

 water, which gushes from the hill-sides, and the head of every ravine, ren- 

 ders well-digging of secondary importance, to what it is in more eastern 

 parts. But still, water is greatly needed very often, even in the west, on 

 higher levels than the usual out-breaking of the springs. And as the coun- 

 try fills up with people, and the spring locations are all pre-occupied, 

 necessity compels the settler to take higher levels, and of course, he is 

 in need of a well. And as the roads are generally laid out on the high, 

 dividing ridges, as far and as long as they can be followed in the right 

 direction ; and as not only Yankees, but others, are fond of building on 

 the road, notwithstanding they may have springs in their ravines, from 



