:Q^^5S 



ri'.AU iir.UiiiT. 



the state of the season. It is better a little late, than too early ; vrhen the majority of 

 the leaves on the shoot are rigid and hard, is a suitable indication of the proper time. 



Having said so much about the want of hardiness of the tree, it may be asked, how 

 I account for the trees that are to be found up and down our land, which have with- 

 stood the winter's storms and summer's heat from one to two hundred years? Beforo 

 I answer the question, allow me to oiler thcra as standing monuments against the 

 exhaustion and insect theories. We have had some specimens in this vicinity — until 

 the spirit of city improvements required their room, when the rude hand of the wood- 

 man brought them low — whose existence was co-equal with the first impress of civili- 

 zation ; they remained sound, healthy, and fruitful to the last. Such specimens, it 

 will be found, have all originated from seed, and always from a hardier stock than 

 the varieties of more modern introduction. A friend has just given me the history of 

 one in Guilford, Conn., which he says is over two hundred years old, measuring fifteen 

 feet in circumference at five or six feet from the ground. It is now beginning to decay, 

 but yields a considerable quantity of fruit. lie says the fruit does not compare with 

 the best now in cultivation, but when he was a boy, more than fifty years ago, it was 

 considered very superior. 



It is to these hardy remains of ancient days, we must look for constitutions to 

 hybridize with our finer sorts, say, if you please, the Seckel, which is as hardy as any 

 of them, for a class of trees producing superior fruit, and, at the same time, such as 

 we can trust out of doors. 



I fear the above remarks may seem lengthy to some, but the subject is of too much 

 interest to be passed over lightly, or with mere assertions. As it is investigated, the 

 more fully its importance is brought to view. I have endeavored to avoid all improper 

 allusions, unnecessary repetitions, and aim at display ; simply confining myself to a 

 plain statement of theories and opinions of others, their comparisons and plausibilities. 

 Much might be added to sustain the views I have presented as the real cause of 

 destruction of our Pear trees. 



[The above paper was communicated by Mr. Ernst to the Cincinnati Horticultural 

 Society, and subsequently appeared in the Horticultural Review. Mr. Ernst sug- 

 gested that we would give place to it in this journal, which we now do with pleasure. 

 It will well repay a careful perusal by every one engaged in the cultivation of the 

 Pear. The disease which is the subject of remark, is a most mysterious one indeed ; 

 no less so than some of those fearful epidemics that make such deadly periodical 

 attacks on the human species, and then disappear. The most watchful and skilful 

 cultivators, and those who have had the most ample opportunities for observation, 

 have been unable to do more than suspect or guess at the cause. Mr. Ernst's paper, 

 unfortunately, able and careful as it is, throws no new light on it. From the begin- 

 ning, many have held strongly to the opinion that"ii was chargeable, mainly, to 

 atmospheric injluences^'' and as far as we are aware this is the opinion of a large major- 

 now. * Our own opinions are hardly worth giving, and at any rate the length 

 Ernst's article prevents us from giving them at this time. — Ed.] 



