634 



DOMKSTIC NOTICES. 



OswcffO neurro bore ii full crop; tliat it iuiUls its 

 fruit in sevoro galos of wind l)i>tter than any oliicr 

 variety of lar^o pears known to thoni, ami that it 

 was equally fun; in coUl ami short seasons, when 

 other Cine varieties wore in>lifleicnt. 



There are one or twi) inaecnraeios in the other- 

 wise very complete ilcsrription of this fruit, pub- 

 lished by you in this journal, which no doubt grew 

 out of the imperfect verbal account I gave on pre- 

 senting the specimens last autumn. 



The lirst relales to its parentage; that it was 

 raised from a seeil of the IVIiite JJoijeiine, is only 

 a conjectural and ]irol)able, and not a certain 

 point. Mr. Rkao did not at llie time know the 

 latter pear. I, however, from his description of 

 the fruit, and time of rii)ening, etc., have no doubt 

 that it was of tliis varici\. 



Secondly, I think the fruit averages large size; 

 I found it this year to average quite as large as that 

 of the Brown Bcurr': grown here, in a situation 

 and soil entirely similar. 



As regards tlie season of maturi'.j', it was stated that 

 it ripens with the White Doyenne. I think, though 

 the specimens I gave you were ripe at that season, 

 yet its average season is that of an early tviitter h-uit. 

 The first time I ever ate Oswego Beurre was in De- 

 cember; they were at maturity, and very delicious 

 in January, 1846, a season peculiar here, for the 

 early maturity and decay of fruit. This pear will 

 ripen even if picked prematurely, and by attending 

 to early and late picking, and proper ripening off 

 afterwards, thej' may be eaten in perfection from 

 the middle of October, to the middle of January. 



I shouki have been gla.l if this fine fruit had not 

 been prominently brought before the public, till 

 all could have been furaisiied with grafts or trees 

 without partiality, which fi-om the very limited 

 supply of grafts, it is now impossible to do. I can, 

 however, still irive the variety to amateurs antl 

 nurserymen, but not in the quantities desired by 

 the latter. — J. W. P. Ai.le.v, Oswego, N. Y., March 

 30th, 1847. 



Rem.\rk;s. — The fruit is not considered as 

 named by pomologisls, simply by its having one 

 or more local titles, even if these are bestowed by 

 those who have originated, or projjagated it. It 

 is not really named till a full description of it has 

 been published in some pomological work or jour- 

 nal, of acknowledged authorit)'; a description, 

 written by some person whose acquaintance 

 with fruit is sufficiently extensive to warrant him 

 in describing a new variety. Tlie merits of a 

 name proposed bj^ the originator or a local name 

 that is widely known or hi<jhly appropriate, should 

 receive due consideration from a pomologist, des- 

 cribing a new fruit, and the courtesy of science 

 would load him to adojit such names, unless there 

 were sufficient reasons for not doing so.* 



There is, Mr. BARKvhas well remarked, a great 

 desire to given new names to fruit in this country. It 

 is an evil, however, which can only be remedied 

 by a general knowledge of the rules, which must in 



* The Osioeso Beurre wa? really brouglit into notice by Mr. 

 Allen. In Mr. Read's hands it was unknown; the name is 

 an expressive and appropriate one, and describing it for the 

 first lime, we had a perfect rigiu to use our own judgment in 

 fixing upon this as the standard name. 



future govern Pomology in this country. These 

 are the same as those which govern nomenclature 

 in Natural Science generally; and which were, in 

 the main, established by Lin.\a:u3 himself. We 

 shall very speedily publish (he rules, as we under- 

 stand them, for the benefitof our readers inlereslcil 

 in uniformity of Pomological nomenclature. — Kd. 



Ashes ARotx.VD Peach tuees. — As early as pos- 

 sible this month, (if not previously done) all 

 peaches, nectarine and apricot, trees should be e.\- 

 ainincd for the |)each worm. Hy taking awaj- the 

 soil, three or four inches deep, it will soon be 

 seen if the insect inhabits the bark there, by the 

 oozing of gum. If such is the case, take the 

 trrubs out at once with the knife, and destroy them. 

 To i^revent them from attacking the tree again, 

 form a small conical heap of leached ashes, or air 

 slated Wme about eacli tree, from si.x inches to 

 8 inches higli. We liavc found this a most ellcc- 

 tive remedy, as the insect (unless in much greater 

 abundance than it is known here) rarely tleposits 

 its eggs any where except in the soft bark just at 

 the surface of the ground, which by this heap of 

 ashes or lime is covered. In the autumn the heap 

 sliould be spread over the surface of the ground, 

 and renewed again the next spring. Fresh lime or 

 ashes is too strong except for lar^je and old trees, 

 and then can only be used in small quantities. 



Water.melons. — The most successful grower 

 of Watermelons that I ever knew, was a person 

 who evury year turned under a piece of sod, in a 

 good meadow soil, and planted his "patch " there- 

 ori. He counted his crop by waggon loads, when 

 his neighbours did theirs, raised on gooil, but old 

 garden soil, by tens and scores only. 



I may add, that the besi Watermelon I have 

 ever seen, is a roundish ihin-rinded Fort, known as 

 the Imperial. It is solid, crisp and of the highest 

 flavour, besides very productive. — X. Y. Z. 'Tren- 

 ton, A''. J. 



Worcester IIort. Society. — We have received 

 from the autiior, a neatly printed pamphlet of 84 pa- 

 ges, entitled Tra)isactions of the Worcester County 

 Horticultural Society, by George Jaques. 



This Society has been in active operation about 5 

 years, and, from the many excellent accounts we 

 have of it, is exerting a verv marked influence on 

 the culture of the whole interior of Massachusetts. 



The animal exhibition held last autumn, was an 

 unusually rich one. In the report of the fruit com- 

 mittee, we find the following paragraph : 



" The number of plates and baskets of specimens 

 exhibited, could not have fallen much short of a 

 thousand. The most numerous ol these were ap- 

 ples, comprising quite a number of valuable varie- 

 ties, some of them quite new. 0[ pears, there were 

 nearly three hundred dishes upon the table, and 

 scarcely an inferior specimen among the whole. 

 Some of the Seckel, Brovyn Beurre, Bartlett, Loui- 

 sa Bonne dc Jer.sey, and Dix, were truly magnifi- 

 cent. It would be sale to assert that a more beau- 

 tiful display of this delicious fruit was never beheld 

 in New England." ^ 



Among these we notice, in the detailed report, 

 quite a number of local varieties which are highly 



