STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 281 



STUDIES AT REUTLEN"GEN". 



The next place visited was the private pomological institu% of 

 Dr. Edward Lucus and his son, Frederick, at Reutleugen, in Wur- 

 temburg. Here, at the foot of the Swabian Alp, where there is a 

 cold slate soil and the position shut off from the warm winds of the 

 gulf stream, making it a trying place for growing fruits, the Pro- 

 fessor obtained lists of apples, pears, cherries, plums, etc., adapted 

 to climates with hot and dry summers and very cold winters, which 

 he hopes will prove valuable. He was furnished at this institute 

 with maps of the most profitable route to proceed on his tour of 

 observation northward, and with valuable letters of introduction 

 to northern pomologists and foresters. 



PEAR GROWING. 



" In the matter of pear growing we have here obtained some 

 Very valuable information. The choice Flemish and French pears 

 fail here about as completel}' as they do in Iowa, yet they have a 

 class of thickly-leaved pears hardier than any of the apples grown, 

 excepting a few Russian varieties and a few winter sorts, plainly of 

 Astrachanica origin. A few of these pears. Dr. Lucus assures us, 

 are choice for table use, but the ones most defiant to wind and 

 weather, are only valuable for cooking and perry making. A sil- 

 very leaved variety grown here on mountain and valley for perry 

 will prove a valuable stock upon which to grow better varieties. 

 Top working on this stock is here verv common. 



HARD WINTERS OVER THERE. 



"I had not expected to find the climate so severe at this point. 

 The apple trees in the valley look hard from the ejffects of the un- 

 precedented winters of 1879-80, of which I have before spoken. 

 On the thousands of acres of orchards around Reutlengen, in the 

 valleys, there is this year scarcely a show of fruit of any kind on 

 account of late spring frosts. . On the mountain slopes, where the 

 ' air drainage ' is better, the fruit is abundant." 



NO BLIGHT IN EUROPE. 



Passing in his northward and eastward journey, onward toward 

 Russia, and commenting on the condition of the country, its pom- 

 ology and forestry, he says: 



