412 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



large quantities of any one article, but a small sample of all — 

 as the varieties of Indian corn, rye, wheat, potatoes, beets, 

 squashes, &c. &c. The public will then have an opportunity 

 to form a fair and impartial opinion of what can be raised in 

 old Essex. This county has materials within herself to make 

 a grand display. If farmers and amateurs will only make a 

 little exertion, this object will be accomplished. 



H. Wheatland, Chairman. 



MIDDLESEX. 



Report of the Committee. 



The show of pears was very fine, and your committee delib- 

 erated long in making some of the awards, so nearly balanced 

 were the claims of the competitors. They would gladly have 

 awarded further premiums to some of the very fine dishes of 

 pears oflered for competition, had it been in their power to do 

 so ; and they desire to make particular mention of the superb 

 Duchess d'Angouleme, weighing twenty ounces, exhibited by 

 Mr. Nesmith, of Lowell, which would have received the first pre- 

 mium for the best single dish if they had been exhibited in 

 season. 



Your committee take this occasion again to recommend the 

 cultivation of the pear on the quince. Many of our choicest 

 pears can only be grown to perfection on this stock ; and they 

 are more hardy, more prolific, and come much earlier into 

 bearing when worked upon the quince than upon their own 

 roots, and their dwarf habit of growth adapts them to the 

 smallest garden ; six or eight feet square being sufficient space 

 for them. They may also be transplanted successfully at 

 almost any age, by reason of the abundant fibrous roots which 

 the quince makes near the surface of the ground. Thus the 

 tenant may take his trees with him as easily as his roses ; a 

 thing impossible when the pear was worked upon its own 

 roots. 



Perhaps a few hints, drawn from the experience of some of 

 your committee, in regard to the selection and cultivation of 

 the pear on the quince, may guide the novice who has hitherto 



