i88i.] FRUIT-CULTURE. 443 



directions for these operations. Still, the cultivation of the latter 

 differs in some particulars from that of the former, and we proceed to 

 notice these. 



The first thing that deserves attention is, that Pear-trees grow more 

 vigorously, attain a larger size, are longer lived, and do not natur- 

 ally bear fruit freely at so early an age as Apple-trees. The Pear is 

 not so generally useful as the Apple — hence, in stocking small gardens, 

 Apple-trees should preponderate : nor are there so many really good 

 varieties that are hardy enough to bear fruit freely in any part of our 

 country — hence many gardens may produce a good supply of Apples, 

 in variety for the table and the kitchen all through the autumn and 

 winter, which would fail to produce anything like a supply of Pears. 

 In utility, then, the Apple takes a place before the Pear ; but when 

 good Pears can be produced in tolerable abundance, they are always 

 put before Apples as a dessert fruit, so much so that Pears rank as the 

 first of our hardy fruits, while Apples are voted common. Not many 

 of the class to which we address ourselves will care very much whether 

 the Apple or the Pear ranks first in the dessert, if they find that crops 

 ot good Apples can be produced easier, where inferior crops of Pears 

 can only be produced with difficulty, and this no matter whether the 

 produce is intended for market or the grower's table. On the other 

 hand, when fine Pears can be produced in equal quantities with Apples, 

 and as easily, or nearly so, the planter who plants for his own table's 

 supply will plant a fair proportion of Pear as well as Apple trees ; and 

 the grower for market will plant Pear-trees more freely, for good Pears 

 fetch much higher prices than Apples. Whether, then, to plant Pear- 

 trees in quantities, or not at all, should depend on whether the climate 

 is suitable or not, and this the cultivator must find out for himself. 



Soil. — A heavy deep loam suits the Pear best ; but hardy kinds will 

 grow and flourish in any soil, from stiff clay to light sand. In Scotland 

 the Carse of Gowrie is famed for its Pears, and there the soil and sub- 

 soil are of the heaviest description. In Strathmore, and in Fife and 

 Stirlingshire, Pears are to be found growing well and fruiting pro- 

 digiously on the heaviest clay and on the lightest sand. Splendid 

 Pears are produced in the valley of the Thames, and there the soil is 

 mostly of a very heavy description. Still, the best Pears are invariably 

 I^roduced on a good medium loam, with a dry subsoil. The best Pear- 

 orchards that we are acquainted with in Scotland are on a soil com- 

 posed of degraded trap of an unknown depth. The soil at Newburgh- 

 on-Tay is of this description ; and there Pears are produced of better 

 quality and larger size than are produced either on the heavy soil of 

 the Carse of Gowrie, a few miles distant in one direction, or on the 

 sandy soils of Stratheden, a few miles in the other. The simple reason 

 is that, in the one instance, the staple is so deep that the roots, go 

 down as they may, are never out of it ; while, in the other two cases, 

 the roots soon get into pure clay in the one case, and into a pure sand 



