NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE. 



551 



what encouragement for us all to go and 

 da likewise ! 



You will see in the "Miniature Fruit 

 Garden," which I now send you, allu- 

 sion made to a seedling from the Easter 

 Beurre, My specimen ripened this sea- 

 son towards the end of February. It is 

 almost more than melting. Mr. Thomp- 

 son writes me, that although "not quite 

 so sugary as its parent, it is a first rate 

 iate pear," The parent tree is the thorni- 

 est, ugliest, vagabondish looking tree you 

 ever saw. 



Although time has tinted me with sober 

 grey, I am still annually raising seedlings. 

 My mode of management is perhaps ori- 

 ginal, and may amuse you. 



To raise late pears is my grand object ; 

 and to effect this, I take pips from Beurre 

 de Ranee, Beurre d'Aremberg, Fortun'e, 

 Ne Plus Meuris, Winter Nelis, Passe Col- 

 mar, &c. These are sown in seed pans, 

 and placed in gentle heat under glass. 

 They soon spring up ; and as soon as five 

 or six leaves are formed, they are placed 

 singly in small pots, then shifted into larger 

 pots, and placed on a gentle hot-bed in the 

 open air. Last year, with this mode of 

 culture, I obtained a growth of two feet, 

 and a thickness equal to a large quill. 

 Each sort is kept carefully named and la- 

 belled, as follows : " from Passe Colmar," 

 " from Beurre d'Aremberg," &c. This 

 spring they have been planted in rows, 

 thus ; No. 1, a seedling ; No. 2, a pear, 

 worked on a quince; No. 3, a seedling; 

 No. 4, a pear, worked on a quince, and so 

 on, through the row. The tops of the 

 seedlings were cut off in January, and they 

 have been recently grafted, commencing 

 with No. 1, which is grafted on No. 2 ; No. 

 3 on No. 4, and so on, through the row. 

 Each sort has its label as above ; for of 

 some such as the Ne Plus Meuris, there 



are twenty or thirty which follow each 

 other regularly in the row. Now by this 

 method great interest is created, as they 

 are double-worked, and I trust will soon be 

 in bearing. In the first place, the parent 

 tree will always be known ; and the dif- 

 ference in the time of bearing between the 

 seedling and the graft from it, will be ac- 

 curately ascertained. This, to me, is an 

 object of great moment ; for I do not re- 

 member ever seeing or reading anything 

 relating to it. 



I hope, D. v., or, perhaps, I had better 

 say, under God's blessing, to solve this 

 very interesting horticultural problem. 



I forgot to say, that I prefer to take the 

 pips (seeds) from fruit gathered from trees 

 standing isolated. The race is then more 

 pure ; and I observe that some varieties 

 produce seedlings bearing much resem- 

 blance to their parents in their habits. 

 This is particularly apparent in those raised 

 from Ne Plus Meuris. By the way, do 

 you know that our Ne Plus Meuris is al- 

 most, or quite, unknown on the Continent ? 

 Both in France and Belgium, Beurre d'An- 

 jou, an excellent pear, but not nearly so 

 late, bears that name. 



Seedlings from Beurre de Ranee vary in 

 a most extraordinary manner. Some are 

 very delicate and slender ; some robust and 

 with large leaves; others covered with 

 thorns. Those from Passe Colmar seem 

 to bear a close resemblance to their parent, 

 as do those from Fortimie and Beurre d'- 

 Areniherg. If the late Mr. Knight had 

 crossed some of these fine pears with such 

 lasting pears as Leon Le Clerc, de Laval, 

 and other long keeping baking pears, how 

 rich we should have been. This is a field 

 still open. Mr. Knight employed parents 

 but ill adapted to produce good results; 

 and thus, after years of experiment, only 

 gave us one pear really fine and good, — ttko 



