PRUNING OF PEAR-TREES. 



somcwhnt rescmhlirifr Crawford's late malocoton. Tt is a large, heavy freestone 

 poach, seed sinall, flesh yellow, with ratlior dark-red skin where ex])osed to the 

 sun, of excellent flavor, and, I think, will ])rovc quite an ac(|uisition for that 

 season. I have tested two or three very superior varieties, ])ro(luced Ity impreg- 

 nating the heath cling with the Colunihia. In all my experiments, I find that, in 

 crossing clingstone and free peaches, the variety produced is always a freestone 

 — ])roving that the freestone is the original form. Also, in crossing nectarines 

 and peaches, and I produced a nundjcr, I have never yet produced a smooth- 

 skinned peach or nectarine ; proving what is already kiiown, that the nectarine 

 is merely a sport. 1 have some Stanwick nectarines which will bear, or, at least, 

 bloom, this spring ; it is my intention to cross them with a number of our best 

 and largest varieties of peaches. A few years ago, I sent for the monstrous Pom- 

 ])onne Peach, for the purpose chiefly of crossing it with other peaches, as it was 

 represented to be of great size, but I find it is not true, the blossoms being small. 

 "Will you do me the favor to inform me where the true kind is to be procured ? 

 My only purpose is to use it as a base for crossing other superior varieties. 



I have procured some tubers of the Dioscorea batatas, and have sent for some 

 tubers of the Dioscorea sativa alata, for the purpose of hybridizing, so as to 

 produce a large variety suited to our climate. As I have no work which gives 

 any particular account of the latter varieties, their botanical description, or mode 

 of cultivation, I would take it as quite a favor to give mc some informatioii on the 

 subject which may further my object. 



PRUNING OF PEAR-TREES. 



BY B. 



NEW JERSEY. 



Barry, in his Fruit Garden, very truly remarks : " Too many people imagine 

 that trees can take care of themselves, as trees in the forest, on the ground 

 that nature preserves a balance in all her works ; but it should be borne in mind 

 that a fruit-tree is not exactly a natural production. It is far removed from the 

 natural state by culture, and, the further it is removed, the more care it requires.''^ 



Upon this theory is based the whole management of tlie improved fruit varieties. 

 Civilized fruit (as Van Mous used to call the more reflned varieties) are the off- 

 spring of art and human skill ; and, as all artificial, and of course more delicate 

 products do, require artificial treatment. Hence the endless treatises on pruning 

 and training; so many, indeed, that one feels deterred from their perusal by their 

 length and dogmatical appearance. Let us try to compress in a few hints and 

 facts, the main principles of that most important operation. 



\Ve confine ourselves to the pear-tree for the present, and chiefly to the pear- 

 tree of the garden, which requires a i)yramidal or conical shape, and a mode of 

 treatment difiCercnt from other species of fruit-trees. 



In planting a tree in its ultimate site, few persons pay any attention to the 

 bent or direction of the tree. This ought to be our first care ; for scarcely any 

 tree of a certain size is so straight as not to show a curving or arching disposi- 

 tion. This curve or arch must always be turned towards the southwest to be able 

 to resist, in some measure, that peculiar influence which, in this country, with the 

 ocean in the rear, affects the tree just in the same way as in the old continent with 

 the ocean in our face. In P^urope, we generally think that this repulsive influence 

 ing to the combined action of the sun in its greatest power (2 or 3 o'clock) 

 the prevailing winds of the Atlantic. Whatever may be the reason 



