GOSSIP FROM TILE NORTHWEST. 



the two past f^eas ns. A Boiirrt' Plel tree, that l)orc some five dozen pears this 

 suiumer, produced specimens weit^liiiig twenty ounces, or 1 j lb. avoirdupois. The 

 total weight of the fruit was sixty-fi/e pounds, or upwards of a pound eacli, on 

 the average. The soil here abounds in sile.x or flint, and was known as Slio-ko- 

 kon, or the Flint Ilills, by the Indians, and was a j)lacc of resort by them to 

 obtain flints for their guns. Can it be this ingredient in the soil which proves so 

 favorable to the growth of fruits? Certain it is that, at this exhibition, the fruit 

 of this locality was finer than almost any other in the country. 



Mr. Barry was so much in demand when here, and found so many persons 

 anxious to avail themselves of his superior knowledge and experience, that it is 

 not surprising he should have erred somewhat in some of his observations. It 

 was not the Brandywine pear that he saw flourishing so well on the quince, but 

 a twin brother, I believe, the Pennsylvania, a variety well worthy the name of 

 the noble keystone State. Many of the pears weighed ten ounces, but were past 

 their season at the time of the Fruit Growers' meeting. This variety may be 

 safely set down as sure to succeed well on the quince at the West. 



Can we not persuade some of the sagacious fruit-growers of the East to come 

 this way and es'ablish a large pear plantation in some of the many favorable 

 localities to be found hereabouts ? The past five years have settled the question 

 beyond a doubt, that pears will be a profitable crop on the quince, and any one 

 who inspects our trees and fruits at the proper season must be satisfied of this. 

 Nowhere will the pear bear more uniformly and abundantly, or look more thrifty 

 and healthy, or produce larger or better flavored fruit — that will command the 

 very highest price in the Atlantic cities. It is true that several years will be 

 required to mature a crop from trees just planted, but while they were growing, 

 the cultivator could do a very profitable business by raising strawberries for the 

 Chicago market. This fruit does remarkably well here, requires but one season 

 to be in market, and the Chicago demand could not be supplied by any one or 

 dozen growers. The strawberry is in its prime here at the end of May, but 

 around Chicago it does not ripen till the middle of July. No other point is so 

 favorable as this for this business ; the northern railway connections with Chicago 

 being too far north, and the southern points being too remote. At this distance, 

 the fruit could be gathered during the day, sent forward by the night train, and 

 be in market the next morning. Last July, strawberries bore the moderate price 

 of twenty-five cents a dish at the fruiterers, or fifty cents per quart in market, in 

 Chicago. As heavy a business could be done in this line, as the Cincinnati 

 growers have been doing for years past. 



Burlington, Iowa, Nov. 12, 1855. 



