tup: pear in France. 





of these persons, I know, keep professional gardeners, and can show fine plants; but, not- 

 withstanding this, there is generally such an absence of taste in all that pertains to design 

 and effect, and such want of judgment in selection and grouping, that I must withhold 

 the praise of good gardening. This may be said of some of the best gardens about Brook- 

 lyn and New-York: of the remainder, the less said the better. 



This state of things is owing to various causes; among others to the fact that nearly all 

 our gardeners are foreigners, (I say it with respect,) who inconsiderately follow here, 

 preciselj' the same system which they practiced at home. There is reason to hope for a 

 change in this particular; for some of the most intelligent of these gardeners have acknow- 

 ledged to me their mistake, and others are beginning to perceive it. We must have then, 

 notwithstanding all that has boen said on this subject, an American system of gardening. 

 I mean by this, not alone a system of cultivation adapted to our own peculiar soil and 

 climate, but also a style of design in keeping with simple good taste, and the habits of a 

 republican people; and in addition to this, some decided changes in the class of plants 

 which frequently' occupy our gardens, or at least in the grouping and arrangement. 



Let it not be sup[)0sed, because I have instanced the I'ich, that I would confine garden- 

 ing to them; by no means. The rich and the poor, and the man in moderate circum- 

 stances, tlie merchant and the meclianic, should alike have their gardens; but if there 

 were a necessity foi' confining gardens to one class alone, then I would sa}', let that class 

 be the poor. Let them have at least one little spot where they can pass the evening of 

 their days in quiet repose under their own vine and peach tree. IIow much brighter and 

 better this world would be, if each man had a spot that he could call his own! But to 

 proceed. I have heard the remark made by not a few, that they would take pleasure in 

 beautifying their grounds if they only had the right kind of knowledge to do it themselves, 

 or to enable them to know that the work was properly done if executed by others. Now, 

 Mr. Editor, if it be your wish, it is this very knowledge that I propose to communicate, 

 with proper illustrations. And here, for the present, I will conclude these general re- 

 marks. P. B. M 



BruvHyv, Avg. IS, lSo2. 



THE PEAR TREE IN FRANCE, 



BY A NEAV-YORK AMATEUR. 



Business called me in the lall of last year to France; and T was so much pleased and 

 surprised by what I saw there, in reference to the universal culture of the pear, that I am 

 induced to send you some remarks upon it, which I think may interest your readers. I 

 landed at Havre, and was, much against my inclination, detained theie by business longer 

 than was agreeable to me. My time was, however, by no means fully occupied; and I 

 whiled away many an hour which would otherwise have hung heavily on my hands, by 

 exploring the surrounding country, which, by-the-bye, is full of interest to a visitor; and 

 the charm of novelty being added to the beauties of nature, in my case, at &\\y rate, a 

 protracted stay in that part of the country, gradually became not only endurable but in- 

 teresting. To make my explanation of the particular use of the pear tree, to which I 

 wisVi to call attention in these remarks, intelligible, I must shortl}'- describe the locality 

 of Ilavie; or those of your readers who have not been on the Continent of Enrone, will 

 not understand me. The town itself is placed at tlic entrance of llie river Sein 

 bosomed in a splendid bay, said to be, Mith our own New-York, and those of Napl 



