150 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTUEE. 



loam, or better if inclined to clay. If it is so wet that water 

 will stand upon it two or three days after frost is out, under- 

 drain it ; if it is so damp that it will not work well and pul- 

 verize for a week or two later still, underdrain it ; not with 

 stones, merely covering them a foot or two, but thoroughly 

 and sufficiently with tiles. To any one who has never tried, 

 it is surprising to see the effect of thorough underdraining, 

 even on any common crop ; and the cost is not so much as 

 people would at first suppose. When land is underdrained 

 extensively, the cost does not generally exceed forty dollars 

 per acre, when the tiles are three and a half to four feet deep 

 and thirty to forty feet apart. Who that owns a garden 

 would not willingly pay this small amount, rather than always 

 have his land wet and unfit for trees, or even early garden 

 vegetables ? We would not wish to infer that only land which 

 is damp enough to need underdraining is suitable for pear- 

 trees ; but the drier the land the more will it need to be 

 enriched. 



It is important that pear-trees should have shelter, or pro- 

 tection from the wind, both in summer and winter. Perhaps 

 the principal reason why they do so much better in city lots 

 than in the country, is that they are so much better sheltered 

 by buildings, fences, shade-trees, &c. In planting pears in 

 the open country, choose a location, if possible, where the 

 wind is broken off on the west and north (or better on all 

 sides) by a belt of trees, hills or buildings. When there is 

 plenty of good land and no shelter, it Avould be advisable to 

 plant belts of trees around it. Probably there is nothing bet- 

 ter or more economical for the purpose than a single row of 

 Norway spruce, planted four or five feet apart around the 

 most exposed sides. The white or Scotch pine would do very 

 well if the land was cheap, and sometimes arbor-vitas makes 

 a fine wind-break, but it is more apt to winter-kill than 

 either of the others. If the soil is not rich, it should be 

 made so by heavily manuring at least a year before the trees 

 are planted. 



Many people are careful to select none but large trees to 

 plant, thinliing they will bear much sooner than small ones. 

 If these could be taken up with all their roots, and quickly 

 and carefully re-set, they would, without doubt, bear in a very 



