218 STATE HOETICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



one to two weeks in ;x cool, dry place, the skin becomes as thin and soft as 

 paper, and the flesh is sound, tender, very juicy and of the finest flavor, some 

 slightly sub-acid, others slightly sweet. 



KIPENING PEARS. 



Mr. J. W. Pierce closes a valuable essay before the Massachusetts Horticult- 

 ural Society with the following paragraph on ripening pears : 



The summa summarum of this Avhole matter is, if we wish to keep pears 

 and retard their rij^ening, we must keep them in a still, dry air, at a temper- 

 ature as near 40 degrees as it is possible. But when it is desirable to ripen 

 them put them in a dark, warm place, with a moderate degree of moisture in 

 the air, and keep them covered to exclude the light and retain the heat and 

 gases which are generated. In warm weather use papers for a covering and 

 in cold weather use woolen blankets. 



KEEPING THE BEUKEE D' ANJOU. 



That veteran pomologist, Marshall P. Wilder, tells how he keeps Anjou pears : 

 The fruit is gathered about the middle of October very carefully and placed 

 in bushel boxes. These are piled one above the other and protected from frost 

 and rain by boards or shutters, where they remain until cold compels their 

 removal to the fruit cellar. The boxes are then taken into a well drained 

 cellar and piled seven high with slats between the boxes. Here they remain 

 with no other care than opening tlie window on cool nights so as to keep the 

 ripening process dormant, whenever tlie cellar seems to need it. About the 

 middle of November we find some of the fruit begins to ripen. Then we 

 commence at one end of the row and select these for market, and so from 

 time to time we go over them, retaining the hard and green specimens to the 

 last. In this way we have the Beurre d' Anjou from November to March, or 

 should they be desired in October they may be ripened in a warm room. 



VARIETIES. 



THE FAMEUSE AND SHIAWASSEE BEAUTY. 



The editor of the American liural Home is a great lover of the Snow apple, 

 and says of it : 



We have grown this apple many years, an orchard we owned having contained 

 some twenty trees. In bearing years we had a large surplus, as the tree is quite 

 productive, and on non-bearing years we had a liberal family supply. During 

 the season, which .with us extended from about the first of October to the 



