1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



143 



Toots come into action before the full develop- 

 inent of foliage and branches, if after this only 

 useless laterals are produced. 



If the outside border is persisted in it should 

 be covered with boards to throw oft' rain and 

 snow, otherwise the ground will be cooled down 

 "beyond the growing degree. 



Under the heading of "Seasonable Hints" is 

 the following on pruning the grape vine : "These 

 latter become nothing but long rope-looking 

 ■apologies for what a vine should be." There is 

 •more science in it than advocating training 

 them down a back wall. It is impossible to dis- 

 cuss this article in a few lines. 



QUALITY AND CULTURE OF PEARS. 



BY GEN. W. H. NOBLE, BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 



Some recent notices in the Monthly on the 

 quality and culture of pears invite remark. It 

 is plain that the favorites in the garden and nur- 

 sery need sifting and change, and more rigid 

 tests of merit. When such a fickle and tedious 

 pear as the Buffum is held beside the princely 

 Sheldon, as mutual subjects of undeserved neg- 

 lect, it is plain that somebody lacks a taste 

 educated by a larger trial of kinds. The editor 

 packs an essay into his pungent counsel for a 



• careful weeding out of lists and new methods in 

 their make-up. 



The pith in " Lacon " about saints is very 

 •close in point as to pears, that "a good many 

 canonized as saints ought to have been cannon- 

 aded, and a large congregation cannonaded ought 

 to have been canonized." Special friends there 

 ■always will be about this or that taste or texture 

 in a fruit. But that " there is no disputing 

 about tastes," long since laid down as an 

 axiom, only gains that force, when those who 



• dispute know the whole of that wherein they 

 •difier. When, therefore, a lover of this or that 

 fruit rates it into the roll of honor, it is in point 

 to ask how much the judge knows about the 

 others, which the promotion of his favorite 

 ■over-rides and out-laws. 



Now, rank in pomology must not be left to 

 whim or caprice. Diplomas of merit should 

 only be granted under the test of strict rules and 

 •standards. Otherwise, as many opinions would 

 flash out about a fruit, as Avrangled of old over 

 the varied tinges, which from whim or environ- 

 ment, the chameleon wears. A like doughty 



• debate was once held over the birth-place, name 

 :and merits of the Pinneo pear, whose worthless- 



ness dawned upon the world in Eastern Con- 

 necticut. 



The need of some closer tests of merit in a 

 fruit, and a new deal of kinds, is best shown by 

 an example. There is a pear of the same sea- 

 son as the Buftum (perhaps a little earlier) 

 never yet oft'ered on any regular sale list in this 

 country, yet in every quality of tree and fruit 

 very much its superior. This pear is the Heri- 

 cart. It is a Belgian pear, as old as Von Mons. 

 perhaps one of his seedlings. [Rone of our fruit 

 books but Elliot's has it rightly placed as to 

 I season, tree or fruit. It is nearly as large as a 

 Bartlett, ripens perfectly on the tree or in the 

 house, and does not readily Avilt. It is good as 

 j a worm-fall, or when picked from the ground at 

 \ full maturity. It never rots at the core, and is 

 very resistant to decay. Its flesh is butteiy, 

 juicy, and of the most delicate aroma. At ma- 

 turity it is a handsome pear, of a tender, but of 

 yellowish green, sometimes darker on one 

 cheek, with a rosy blush. It bears well every 

 year, and holds fast its fruit. Its tree-growth is 

 fairly vigorous, somewhat struggling and jagged 

 in youth, but shaping into graceful droop with 

 years. It is as hardy as an oak, and thrives 

 when the Bartlett fails and dies. It never mil- 

 dews or leaf-blights, but holds its rich, green, 

 broad foliage till late, maturing every twig. 

 Yet this pear is never heard of, while the Buf- 

 fum holds a choice place in every catalogue. 



Xow, the Buftum, though so much favored, is 

 a very fickle pear. When picked at just the 

 right time, thinned so that each fruit gets full 

 size, carefully laid away in the house, and 

 watched for its exact point of ripening, it is a 

 good, and sometimes a very good pear; but if 

 you delay the picking or the eating beyond that 

 right time, or if when picked it is not favorably 

 placed as to its surroundings, or if it is not a 

 specimen grown large by the sacrifice of its fel- 

 lows, it is simply good for nothing, not a whit 

 better than the common Harvest pear, Amire 

 Johanette. 



The very fact that of these two fruits of the 

 same kind and season, the inferior is so known 

 and cherished, while its superior seems " born 

 to blush unseen, and waste its sweetness," 

 speaks for a new deal in fruits. Some should 

 come to the front, and others should " go away 

 into outer darkness." It proves, too, that one 

 fruit should not be placed high among the choice, 

 and another ignored or banished, except under 

 tests of quality less arbitrary than the individual 



