8 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



• 



seed grown on diseased trees. In Western New York, where 

 this wholesale business is generally done, there is seemingly 

 but very little regard paid to the future health, thrift, and 

 fruitfulness of the plants : on the contrary, they raise from 

 any thing and every thing that bears pears, and force the 

 trees along, somewhat after the manner that some manufac- 

 turers shove shoddy shoes into the market, and that is the 

 end of it with them. We have every reason to believe that 

 trees thus propagated from varieties affected with disease 

 will sooner or later fall a prey to its destruction. 



RAISING FROM SEED. 



The chief object of raising trees from the seed is to obtain 

 stocks for budding or grafting, as it is well known in pear- 

 culture that no variety will reproduce itself from the seed : 

 hence the resort to artificial methods for propagation. The 

 first step to be taken towards this is to select for seed the 

 best specimens when fully ripe, grown on sound, vigorous, 

 and healthy trees; when this is done, place the fruit in a 

 box, and leave it until decay reduces it to a pulpy state; 

 then wash out the pulp, and dry the seed by spreading it thin 

 on a board, and turning it over occasionally, as any seed. 



If the soil or ground is naturally dry, deep, and rich, the best 

 time to plant the seed is in the fall, in drills three feet apart. 

 Thio distance will admit of going between them to keep the 

 soil pliable and mellow when the plants are up. When the 

 drill is made, open it with a hoe about five inches wide and 

 three deep, then drop the seed, and draw over it with the hoe 

 the fine pulverized earth as evenly as it can possibly be done. 

 A top-dressing of decomposed stable-manure or partly de- 

 cayed leaves, to the depth of an inch or so, should be applied. 

 This will prevent the surface in early spring from baking or 

 cracking, which will help the plants to come up readily, 

 strong and vigorous. The covering on the seed should not 

 be too deep, — not over three inches including the top-dressing. 



Care must be taken that thej^ be not in any way stunted, 

 either by any obstacle in the way coming up through the soil, 

 or by weeds and neglect afterwards. Seedlings stunted in 

 the early stages of their growth never make sound, thrifty, 

 healthy trees, and therefore should never be planted. ■ If they 

 come up too close together, they should be thinned out, when 



