DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



Snmrstir jfntirBs. 



Pears Rttnning Out. — Any person con- 

 versant with fruit, who will take the trou- 

 ble to walk through the markets of Phila- 

 delphia — where more Seckel Pears are to be 

 seen than any where else in the world, can- 

 not but be struck with the very small size 

 of these pears. If he has besides, been in 

 the habit, as we have been, of seeing the 

 Philadelphia markets at this season, for 

 some years past, he will make the compari- 

 son between the Seckel Pears of Philadel- 

 phia now, and those of ten or fifteen years 

 ago. Then, the Seckel Pears might be seen 

 by the waggon load, large, fair, ruddy and 

 handsome, as well as delicious. If j'ou men- 

 tion this present degeneracy to a Philadel- 

 phian, he will shrug his shoulders, and say, 

 " yes, the Seckel Pear is no longer what it 

 once was; I am afraid it is running out." 



And yet, if you goto Boston — which is 

 far from being so favorable a climate for 

 fruit culture, as that of Philadelphia, you 

 will see Seckel Pears so large and fine that 

 you almost doubt their being the same fruit. 

 If you are curious to investigate the history 

 of the Seckel Pear culture in the two places, 

 you will not long be at a loss how to account 

 for the difference. In Philadelphia they 

 trust to nature, and a soil once highly fer- 

 tile. But the Seckel pear trees have ex- 

 hausted the soil — because it had only a cer- 

 tain amount of pear tree elements, and lan- 

 guished for more food. In Boston they 

 know that nature is a hard mother, and they 

 rely on art — trenching the soil twice as deep 

 as nature makes it, and supplying an abun- 

 dance of food for the growth of the tree and 

 fruit. Hence the average size of the Seckel 

 Pear in Philadelphia, has dwindled down in 

 twenty years, from an inch and three-fourths 

 in diameter, to a little more than an inch — 

 while in Boston, it has been raised by high 

 culture, to between two and three inches in 

 diameter. 



Some soils, however, contain in them- 

 selves an almost inexhaustible supply of na- 

 tural food for fruit trees. Even long cul- 

 ture wears out such soils slowl}^ — because 

 the mineral elements of fertility gradually 

 decompose, and form new soil. TVe have 

 before us a couple of Seckel Pears, of extra- 

 ordinary size and beauty, sent us from 

 Brandon, on the James Kiver, Virginia, one 

 of the largest and oldest estates in America 

 — having been cultivated since the earliest 

 settlement of the country. This estate still 

 shows large fields, which, under the present 

 good management — (i. e. the judicious ap- 

 plication of lime,) yield 30 bushels of Avheat 

 to the acre. But the Seckel pear trees here, 

 without any special attention, still bear lar- 

 ger and finer fruit than we have seen in Phi- 

 ladelphia. It is useless, with such proofs 

 of the effects of soil and culture upon fruit, 

 for our Philadelphia friends to talk about the 

 " running out" of so modern a pear as the 

 Seckel. It is the soil which has run out, 

 not the variety. 



Guano. — Nothing is more pleasant than 

 to give advice which, when applied to prac- 

 tice, affords satisfactory results. A year 

 ago a friend complained of the high cost of 

 stable manure. We recommended guano — 

 which, at 2| cts. per lb., cannot but be con- 

 sidered a cheap manure. " Ah, but," said 

 he, " it does not suit either our climate or 

 our soil." When do you apply it, we asked 

 him. "In the months of April or May, 

 when planting my crops, or working my 

 garden borders." It is precisely on that 

 account, Ave answered, that in your drj' soil 

 and our dry climate, j'ou have failed to get 

 good results. Now make another trial in the 

 months of October or November. Apply 

 guano to garden or orchard soils that Avant 

 enriching, at the rate of 500 lbs. per acre 

 The soil should be lightly stirred after 

 to bury the guano, and fix it. 



