1857.] Dicarf Pear Culture. 75 



pears that — ■when all the expenses are reckoned into the accoun 

 must cost him about ten cents a piece. Rather too much, it strikes 

 me, for so little. For ourself, we prefer to buy our pears in market, 

 grown upon good healthy standards. We have never seen any in 

 market yet, grown in any other way, nor do we soon expect to ! The 

 next witness which we propose to call upon the stand is ' Jeffreys,' 

 whose critiques are contained in the numbers of the Horticulturist 

 published at Philadelphia. 



Jeffreys, is the nom de plume of some gentleman whom I do not 

 know, but would be perfectly willing to leave to my friend, Mr. Bu- 

 chanan, to say, whether or not, his. authority does not consist of 

 the very best stamp. In the July number of the Horticulturist, he 

 says : 



" I hope Dr. Ward is not done with the subject ; when he has, I 

 have a word or two to say. Till then, I noio say — en passant — he is 

 perfectly right. The cat will come out of the bag, in this Dwarf 

 Pear business, after awhile. The nurserymen have had a capital 

 run of them for years past, and not a small one out of me, for a 

 moderate man. I wish we orchard pear-growers — not nurserymen — 

 could have a ' protracted meeting,' and an opportunity to tell our 

 individual ' experience ;' I guess we 'd have a sympathizing time of 

 it, and that without declaring a ' dividend ' in the way of profits !" 



Now, then, I will read the article upon which allusion is here 

 made. It is in the May No. of the same work, page 216. 



In the October No. of the Horticulturist, is a criticism from the 

 pen of Jeffreys, which ought to satisfy any reasonable man that 

 Dwarf Pears are a humbug. It can be found on page 459, which, 

 with your generous permission, I will read. 



We presume every member of this society has heard of the re- 

 nowned Col. Wilder, of Boston. He is one among a very few 

 men of whom it may be said, that his fame is world-wide, on the 

 subject of fruits generally, and Dwarf Pears in particular. What is 

 his position now? After bloviating for the last ten years upon the 

 beauties of Dwarf Pear culture, he has veered round, backed out, 

 and will keep 'bobbin' until we shall find him at last vindicatino- 

 with us, their entire annihilation for orchards. In some of his late 

 lectures, the Col. now advocates the plan of setting the Dwarf Pear 

 so deep into the ground that the roots may grow out from the Pear, 

 instead of relying upon that of the Quince. But we will give his 

 exact language contained in an address made before a Legislative 



