60 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Rice: The grafts for those trees were cut from old bearing 

 branches — I was bound to have it all right. 



Mr. D. G. Edmiston of Adrian advised pruning; he had known an 

 orchard to become fruitful from being cut over for scions. 



Mr. Rice: The orchard has been thoroughly pruned. 



Mr. Morrill: I will wager a fat sheep I can suggest something Mr. 

 Rice has never done for that orchard. Have you ever tried sub- 

 irrigation? 



Mr. Rice: No. 



With laughter the meeting abandonded Mr. Rice's phenomenal apple 

 orchard as something quite beyond their remedial knowledge. 



PEARS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



Mr. J. N. Stearns of Kalamazoo followed with the subjoined paper 

 upon " My Experience in Growing Pears:" 



I have promised our secretary to give some of my experience in grow- 

 ing pears. In the first place, I will enumerate some of the mistakes I 

 have made. 



The first, in planting some varieties in which there is no profit to me. 

 Next, in not planting dwarfs deep enough and in not keeping them headed 

 back sufficiently; and in earlier years in not being prompt in cutting out 

 blight, and in planting profitable varieties on soil not adapted to them. 



THE PEAR IS PROFITABLE. 



I have faith in the pear as being the most remunerative of any of our 

 large fruits, not excepting the peach in its most favored locality. My 

 experience and observation is we have a few varieties that, if planted on 

 soil adapted to them, we may grow successfully in any part of this state. 

 It is generally understood that a strong, clayey soil is best for pears, but 

 we have a few good varieties that do well on the lighter soils, if kept well 

 fed and cultivated, such as Bartlett, Howell, and Louise Bonne. It will 

 not pay to plant the Angouleme, Anjou, or Sheldon on any but strong, 

 fairly heavy soil. 



PREPARATION OF THE GROUND AND CULTURE. 



The ground should be well fitted before planting, by being worked very 

 deep by using a subsoil plow, and made rich with fertilizers (if not so 

 naturally), and should be so worked or underdrained that no water will 

 stand long on the surface after heavy rains. While I am speaking of 

 working the soil I will say I am one of the few that believe in cultivat- 

 ing the pear orchard just as thoroughly as the peach orchard. I know it 

 is advocated in the papers, and at horticultural meetings, to cultivate only 

 for the first three or four years, then seed down, to prevent blight. But 

 I have an orchard of one thousand trees, of which most are twelve years 

 old, and it has been thoroughly worked every year during that time, except 

 that a portion of it was left in grass for two years, as an experiment — 



