DR. WARD ON PEAR CULTURE 



in a frame in cinder ashes, clcvatinof them to within a few inches of the plass ; 

 draw oir tlie lights in line, dry weather, and ])rotect lliem from rain and damp; 

 they will flower profusely the whole of the winter. They will also bloom in a 

 greenhouse, provide<l they are placed in a dry, airy situation. This kind has a 

 double flower, light blue, and is sweet-scented. The New Russian Violet is, 

 without exception, the best hardj/ sort w'c have, as it blooms profusely the whole 

 of the winter in the open ground, in any situation, which makes it very desiraljle 

 to cultivate. Bedding them out every two years, about the end of April, in a 

 dry soil, is quite sufficient; they require less room than many other kinds, as they 

 make but few runners : a large, single, purple flower, very fragrant. The lianksian 

 Violet has a sweet perfume, flowers single, jiurple, but not so profuse in blooming 

 as the former. It requires to be planted on a warm border under a south wall, 

 in March or April, and attended with water in dry weather ; it will flower early 

 in autumn. Several other varieties might be enumerated, but they are less worthy 

 of notice. — Cottage Gardener. 



DR. WARD ON PEAR CULTURE. 



REPLY from Dr. Ward to the severe remark made in 

 the Rochester Pomological Convention, has appeared 

 in the Country Gentleman. Though rather late to 

 help the prospects of his liberal challenge, we consider 

 it due to the author to coi)y portions of it here : — 



" Your report of the doings of the American 

 Pomological Society at its late session at Roches- 

 ter, includes this sentence : — 



" ' Allusion was made to several recent articles 

 from a correspondent in the Horticidturist, as tend- 

 ing to discourage the culture of the pear as a dwarf, 

 and some gentlemen present who liad visited the 

 grounds of that correspondent, had found that ' he 

 knew nothing of cultivating pears on quince stocks, 

 according to modern treatment,' as exhibited by 

 his distorted, badly ])runed trees, twelve years 

 old.' — Country Gentleman^ Oct. 9. 



" As allusion was here made to myself, your 

 readers will, I trust, pardon me for presenting a 

 few facts on the other side of the question. The 

 trees above referred to comprise ten rows, with 

 twenty-five in a row, and are of very uniform size, 

 shape, and vigor ; the varieties embraced are the 

 Duchess, Vicars, Louise Bonne, and Doyenne. 

 These rows are still entire, and each tree resem- 

 bles its fellow as much as one Vicar or Duchess 

 Pear resembles another. But they are not pyra- 

 mids, for the best of all reasons, that I could not 

 afford to grow them in the pyramidal form. The 

 only row that was originally made to assume that form, was altered to the half- 

 standard form, on account of economy in culture. After a brief experience, I 

 satisfied that the keeping of the grounds worked and cleaned by hand lab 

 ould cost more than I should ever realize from the sale of the fruit. 





