KEPORTS OF COUNTY SOCIETIES. 347 



of poorly cultivated patches. Even in unfavorable seasons this would 

 pay the interest on $750 at 10 per cent; on £937.50 at 8 per cent and 

 on 1,250 at 6 per cent. 



RASPBERRIES. 



Soughegan, Gregg and Hopkins raspberries receive about the 

 same attention and labor as blackberries, and produce about the same 

 or better results, selling at 8i to 12* cents per quart. 



PEARS. 



Mr. George P. Luckhardt is about the most successful pear grower 

 I know of in this county. He favored me with the following list of 

 the different varieties of pears that are a success and profit with him, 

 with very little blight, viz. : Beurre d'Angou, Clapp's Favorite and Ty- 

 son, the very best standards, while Doyenne, Boussockand Sheldon are 

 good. Among the dwarfs are Duchess d'Angonlenne, Seckel, White 

 Doyenne (D. and and St.) and Belle Lucrative, as the best, and Beurre 

 Superfine, the very best. These trees were set in 1866 and the original 

 orchard contained 1,000 trees of 300 Standard and 700 Dwarfs. His 

 mode of cultivating is to cultivate two or three years, keep well trim- 

 med ; after that stop cultivating and trimming and sow in grass. Pears 

 set here in 1857 have averaged $75 to $100 per acre for 28 years from 

 the varieties already mentioned. Have no pools or standing water 

 close to the trees, as the pear cannot stand standing water about it. 

 Our soil in Holt county, with its natural under-drainage, certainly can't 

 be excelled anywhere — California not excepted — for pear growing, were 

 it not for the blight. The blight is the same in many States. All other 

 fruits can be made a success with much less labor than it can where 

 there is hard-pan. I believe the blight has about run its course ; epi- 

 demic or diseases will rage for a while in both the animal and vegeta- 

 ble kingdom and then subside and all is well. The celular tissue, 

 organic structure or protoplasm, the physical basis of life, is the same 

 in both. 



THE APPLE. 



In Holt county, Missouri, we regard the crop an almost entire fail- 

 ure this year ; however, there were between 200 and 300 car loads of 

 apples shipped out of Holt county. Samuel Davidson's Jenets brought 

 him $80 per acre this fall. This orchard has been in timothy for 12 

 years, and he mows as much hay as if the trees were not there. The 

 hay pays him for the labor he gives the trees, so that he has the apples 

 clear. The $80 would pay the interest on $800 at 10 per cent; on $1,000 



