TREATMENT OF WINTER PEARS. 



ing mostly of the native cedar, -u-hicli here assumes an erect and highly beautiful 

 form ; the roads and walks are in fine condition, and the lawn promises soon to 

 be such as any one might envy. We think Mr. J. should employ the improved 

 lawn-mower, in order to economize time. His specialities are grapes and a fruit 

 garden, and certainly there is no better example than both exhibit. His large, 

 grapery is a " Lean-to" to the house, and produces, with his own and his gardener's 

 care, as fine grapes as are ever eaten. The border outside is an example of extreme 

 neatness. Fruit from this house we have partaken of in former years, when we 

 thought nothing could he finer. 



The fruit garden here is a model which we should like all our amateur friends 

 to imitate. The peach-trees are of sixteen years' growth, and enormous specimens, 

 some on espaliers, and others in the open ground, but headed back annually. The 

 pears, dwarf and standard, receive the best treatment ; these, and the peaches, 

 have scarcely felt the last severe winter, and give promise of a good crop ; both 

 pears and peaches receive spring and fall dressings of guano — a handful to a 

 small tree, and more to a large — mixed with plaster ; this is dug in in the fall, and 

 the whole covered all winter with a good mulching of stable manure. Here is the 

 whole treatment ; we venture to say, no garden in Amei'ica can exhibit better 

 fruit, which is so abundant, that it has often to be buried in the earth to prevent 

 its becoming a nuisance ! With the New York market so near, this should not 

 be ; better give it away than destroy it. The whole garden here is dug over 

 before winter, and left in its rough state for the frosts to plough through the 

 ground and pulverize it. 



W^e could dwell long on the beauty of these Staten Island sites, the kind and 

 generous hospitality of its inhabitants, describe Mr. Aspinwall's noble mansion 

 and fine views, but we are called to visit the beauties of the North River, and, in 

 these hasty remarks, must endeavor to be concise. 



TREATMENT OF WINTER PEARS. 



BY D. S. DEWEY, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT. 



It is now generally conceded, I believe, that the pear world does " move." 

 Seeing is believing, so far as it goes; eating, is proof positive. Delicious winter 

 pears are raised ; not merely as " tasters," by the half-dozen or so, but by the 

 bushel ; and preserved, too, in good condition, for months. But, as scepticism 

 on this subject is not wholly removed from the public mind, and as the subject is 

 one of some importance, additional evidence in the matter may not be deemed 

 unworthy of record. 



On the evening of the 22d of February last, a few horticultural friends of the 

 worthy Ex-President of our Society — Alfred Smith, Esq. — met him, by appoint- 

 ment, at his residence, to witness some of the results of his judicious experiments 

 in raising and keeping winter pears. He placed before us a superb collection of 

 the three following varieties: Reurre d'Aremberg, Winter Nelis, and Glout 

 Morceau. They were truly beautiful to the sight, and delicious to the taste, and 

 were not only well developed in color, but also in form, having, apparently, lost 

 but little, if any, of their original fulness of outline. 



In answer to the very natural inquiry which immediately arises, as to the cause 

 of such success, I submit the following brief rule, in Mr. Smith's own words 



Pick late, and keep cool." 



