SECRETARY'S REPORT. 69 



16. One of the most profitable crops of the farm. 



17. The returns are conflicting in relation to the increase of 

 crop. General opinion is in favor of an increase. One culti- 

 vator in Middlesex, says 50 per cent, since 1850. 



PEARS. 



1. The returns give as the best six, the Bartlett, Flemish 

 Beauty, Seckel, Louise bonne de Jersey, Rostiezer, Winter 

 Nelis or Vicar of Winkfield. 



For the best twelve, Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Seckel, Louise 

 bonne de Jersey, Vicar of Winkfield, Beurre Diel, Rostiezer, 

 Winter Nelis, Buffum, Beurre 'd Anjou, Lawrence, Beurre 

 GifFard. 



2. For market, Bartlett, Flemish Beauty, Beurre Bosc, Vicar 

 of Winkfield, Fulton, Lawrence, Buffum, Louise bonne de 

 Jersey, Winter Nelis. 



For an orchard of an hundred trees on pear root, 30 Bartlett, 

 20 Flemish Beauty, 20 Louise bonne de Jersey, 15 Vicar of 

 Winkfield, 10 Buffum, 5 Seckel. 



3. For pears on the quince root, Louise bonne de Jersey, 

 Duchesse d'Angouleme, Belle Lucrative, Flemish Beauty, 

 Beurre' d' Anjou, Vicar of Winkfield, Glout Morceau. 



4. No return. 



5. Gather carefully, and keep them closely barrelled or 

 boxed, in a cool, dry cellar or fruit-room. 



6. A sheltered aspect, in a deep, rich and mellow soil. 



7. Thorough and deep trenching or subsoiling, similar to that 

 for the apple, but richer. 



8. Few experiments, but the results uniformly beneficial. 



9. Same as for other fruit trees. 



10. No general reply. 



11. Mulching has been used with great advantage. 



12. Hon. Asahel Foote, of Williamstown, says : " I com- 

 menced raising seedlings, with a view to originating new choice 

 pears, in 1852, and have now growing, of different ages, some 

 five hundred trees, selected from, perhaps, as many thousands, 

 and grown from seeds of nearly all the standard sorts. Not 

 only grafts from these seedlings, inserted into bearing trees, 

 both standards and dwarfs, but some of the seedlings them- 

 selves, give promise of fruiting the next season. My system is 



