1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



141 



shock received by being put in grass, they are 

 improving from year to year, as the fertilizing 

 materials — manure, leaves, rotten grass, and 

 occasional dressing of soil — accumulate on the 

 surface. The expense of manuring, to which 

 many object as more costly than cultivating, 

 does not exceed S30 per acre, at $3 per cord 

 delivered in the orchard. 



I have many dwarf pear trees over 20 inches 

 in circumference. One Duchess d'Angouleme 

 of 27 inches, 30 years old and 18 years in grass, 

 which produced 6i bushels of fine fruit last year, 

 besides making a growth of from 6 to 15 inches. 

 Others bearing a light crop, made a growth of 

 twice that length, also in grass. Where irriga- 

 tion can be applied once or twice during the 

 month of July and August, it will not only im- 

 prove the crop, but will cause a rich growth of 

 grass under which the quince root cannot be 

 reached by frost. And I do not believe that 

 grafting the pear or quince stock so changes its 

 constitution as to make it a feeble tree. Protect 

 its roots from the extremes of heat and cold ; 

 give it enough nourishment to sustain a healthy 

 growth of the top ; prevent its tendency to over- 

 bear (which seems the only reason for its being 

 weaker than when on its own root), and the 

 dwarf pear will no longer be denounced as un- 

 reliable, short-lived, and unfit for cultivation in 

 this climate. I believe if it were so treated, the 

 more vigorous growth of the pear top would 

 induce a larger than natural growth of the quince 

 root ; and through this equality live as long as 

 the pear top can be kept in a thriving condition. 



from the root like the lilac bush, so that at 

 three to five years old there will be six to a 

 dozen trees to one root, which will produue 

 several quarts of fruit every year. 



They are very productive, and the fruit is 

 relshed by nearly every one. This variety was 

 introduced into Western Iowa, by the writer of 

 this, several years since, and is now well known 

 throughout this region, and is also known to 

 some extent through the Eastern States, and 

 is, I think, highly prized wherever known. 



[The regular Juneberry of the East grows to 

 a small tree. We were not aware that there 

 was a dwarf Juneberry of the superior character 

 noted by Mr. Terry. 



While we were writing the above paragraph 

 Mr. A. S. Fuller dropped into our office, and he 

 tells us he has had this Western Juneberry 

 under culture sometime, and that it retains in the 

 East the good qualities it possesses in the West. 



In New Jersey and some other States are 

 dwarf forms of Amelanchier, but they are so 

 poor in the quality of their fruit in comparison 

 with the larger forms, that we hardly thought of 

 it in connection with the one referre d to by the 

 Horticultural Society.— Ed. G. M.] 



DWARF JUNEBERRY. 



BY H. A. TERRY, CRESCENT CITY, IOWA. 



In your issue for March I notice allusion 

 is made to the action of our State Horticultural 

 Society, in regard to the Dwarf Juneberry 

 being sold by agents for real Huckleberries. 

 I have never known of the Juneberry being sold 

 for Huckleberries; but I must say whoever buys 

 them under that impression will not get cheated, 

 as they are much more valuable to grow on 

 Iowa soil than the real Whortleberry, as the 

 genuine Whortleberry does not flourish in Iowa. 

 This Dwarf Juneberry is an Amelanchier, a 

 native of the Rocky Mountain country, and may 

 have been sometimes called Mountain Huckle- 

 berry, as the fruit resembles in size, color, and 

 taste, the genuine eastern Huckleberry. The 

 trees or bushes grow from four to seven feet 

 high, rarely exceeding six feet, and stool out 



BLIGHT IN THE PEAR TREE. 



BY I. C. WOOD, FISHKILL, N. Y. 



Being somewhat interested in the growing of 

 this desirable fruit, both as dwarf and standard, 

 and watching the successes and failiu-es of 

 fruit growers in this vicinity, and having read 

 with much interest the different experiences of 

 fruitgrowers, as discussed through your valuable 

 journal, I thought, with your consent, I would 

 state a few instances or peculiarities of the blight 

 in this section. One of my neighbors has an 

 orchard of about 200 standard pear trees, from 

 8 to 10 years set; soil a rich loam, underlaid 

 with coble. The latter is from 3 to 4 feet under. 

 The first 8 or 10 inches is a good loam in which 

 small flattish stone is pretty freely mingled, but 

 after the first 8 or 10 inches it becomes a clean 

 deep loam free from stone. The trees were set 

 about 15 feet apart each way, and head formed 

 3 to 4 feet high. The ground has been carefully 

 tilled with hoed crops, generally potatoes, but 

 sometimes a part of it has been planted to corn. 

 All have been pretty liberally manured with 

 barnyard manure, and, as a matter of course,, 

 the trees have made a splendid growth. The 

 sorts were mostly Bartlett, though some F. 

 Beauty, B. Bosc, B. Clairgeau and Vicar were 



