NEW PEARS AND PEAR CULTURE. 



553 



Ollf summers have been cool find unri- 

 pening, our pears have ripened prema- 

 turely. 



I hope this season to hear from you, re- 

 specting the identity of Beurre d'Arcm- 

 berg with Orpkdine d'Engke/m,- — the Sol' 

 dat Laboureiir of France. With me, the 

 trees are most distinct, and remain so, 

 whether young or old, on the quince or on 

 the pear, in all soils, and in all situations. 

 The fruit of the former, with me, is gene- 

 rally a trifle smaller ; but it is in its shoots 

 and general habit that it difTers so much. 

 Its shoots are of a darker brown, always 

 thorny, its leaves more pointed, and smaller 

 than the latter. When in Belgium, in 

 1847, I found two pears there, — one called 

 Orpheline d'Engheim, the other Beurrt^ 

 d'Aremberg. I imported both, and find 

 them exactly identical with those I have 

 for some years cultivated. 



My Beurre d^Aremberg I received from 

 the Horticultural Society of London about 

 fifteen years ago ; and Orpheline d'Eng- 

 heim I received from Van Mons about the 

 same period, binder the name of Beurrl' 

 d'' Ar&mherg. Finding it different to that 

 which I possessed, I distinguished it as 

 "Beurre d'Aremberg, (Van Mons,") in my 

 catalogue for several years. I then found 

 that the Soldat Laboureur of the French, 

 and Orpheline d'Engheim of the Belgians, 

 were the same ; and I may also add that the 

 pear " Vrai Arentberg''^ is the same. In 

 the English nurseries, both varieties are 

 cultivated, mixed generally, under the 

 name Beurre d'Aremberg. 



You will smile when I tell you that, out 

 of my collection of nearly 1000 sorts of 

 pears, I cultivate for profit, i. e., for their 

 fruit, to send to Covent Garden Mar- 

 ket, four, viz., Williams'' Bon Chretien, 

 (your Bartlett,) Beurre d^Amanlis, Bejirre 

 Capiaui/iont, and Louise BoJine de Jer- 



seij.* Of the first, I have about 500 bear- 

 ing trees, frcm five to twenty-five years 

 old, on the pear stock. Of the second, 

 about the same number, on the quince, as 

 pyramids, This latter does admirably on 

 the qtiince; and an orchard of pyramids 

 would be very profitable. (Let some of 

 your young ciiliivators recollect this.) Of 

 the third, about 2,500 fine trees, from five 

 to fifteen years old. They are beautiful 

 trees, and perfect pyramids, growing so 

 naturally, with but very slight attention to 

 shortening their side shoots. Trees of this 

 kind are all on pear stocks. La^itly, I 

 have 2,500 trees growing in my orchard, 

 of Louise Bonne de Jerseij, all on the quince. 

 These are three to six years old, all pyra- 

 mids, full of blossom., and charming trees. 

 What a comfort, that we have no pear 

 blights in this country, no frozen sap, etc- 

 A pear tree, once well planted here, pro- 

 gresses not rapidly, but surely. I find that 

 my trees of Beurre Capiaumont, ten years 

 old, on pear stocks, make, annually, shoots 

 from twelve to fifteen inches in length- 

 Louisa Donne de Jersey, on quince stocks, 

 five years old, as nearly as possible the 

 same annual growth. These trees are an- 

 nually covered with blossoms, and give 

 fine crops. It may, perhaps, assist some of 

 your young cultivators if I give, in a few 

 words, the best mode of combining a pear 

 orchard with a nursery or kitchen garden. 

 1 think one or two of your countrymen have 

 already taken notes of it, but perhaps not. 



I purchased, some few years ago, a con- 

 siderable quantity of freehold land ; and 

 not feeling sure that the demand for roses 

 and ornamental shrubs would continue, I 

 resolved to plant pear trees, and thus have 

 two strings to my bow. I commenced, by 

 purchasing all the old and overgrown trees 



* How exactly this corroborates the advice we gave to 

 orcliarclists, as coiitrnsted with amateurs. (See leader, in 

 our lust March number.) lio. 



