210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Clement. I would say, too, that it is one of the best 

 pears, when you can get it to bear ; but so long as it is liable to 

 fail with me, I would state that fact. If I could keep them 

 alive and bearing, no amount of money would tempt me to part 

 with them. 



Mr. Ives. Is your soil moist or dry ? 



Mr. Clement. I had a row of Belle Lucratives beginning in 

 a hollow and extending on to a hill. 



Mr. Ives. In a clay subsoil ? 



Mr. Clement. I think not. I think there is but little clay 

 in my soil, any way. It is not adapted to the growing of pears. 

 I remarked, in the beginning, that pears with me had been 

 failures. But I have seen them grown in the city of Lowell very 

 large and fine indeed. 



Mr. Ives. I have seen the blight on the Belle Lucrative. 



Mr. Clement. The Duchess is the pear more generally 

 planted in our region than any other late pear. It grows large, 

 and some say it is a capital pear ; others, that it is about second- 

 rate ; and occasionally a gentleman will say it is third-rate. 

 Opinions vary in relation to the quality of the fruit ; but at any 

 rate, no matter about the quality, it is profitable to raise, because 

 you can always sell it, and at a high price. It is so fine in 

 appearance, that, coming at a season when fruits are compara- 

 tively scarce — in November (it can be kept up to December 

 sometimes, but November is the month for it) — it always com- 

 mands a high price. I hear of their being sold for six dollars a 

 dozen. 



A Member. What varieties of pears are least liable to throw 

 off their leaves before frost comes ? I find a good many of 

 mine throw off their leaves four, five or six weeks before the 

 fruit matures. Some varieties do it every year. 



Mr. Clement. I am glad that matter has been alluded to, 

 because I might have overlooked it. I have had some such 

 experience myself. I should say that the Flemish Beauty was 

 the worst in regard to that ; it casts its foliage before the pears 

 are ripened. Of course the fruit is thus left unprotected, and 

 the pears are worthless. The Louise Bonne do Jersey does the 

 same thing sometimes. My grounds, however, are not a crite- 

 rion by which you can judge of these things. Another man's 

 experience would be different from mine/especially where there 



