FAKMERS' GARDENS. 351 



drouglit in a thin soil, but in a thoroughly drained one they send their roots 

 deeper and obtain moisture. Pears upon pear stocks will live longer, become 

 larger trees, and in general ai-e less subject to disease, but those varieties that 

 will thrive on the quince stock will yield fruit earlier than on their own. In 

 setting pears grafted on the quince they should be set into the ground three or 

 four inches deeper than the junction of the scion with the root and kept cov- 

 ered, and in due time the pear wood will throw out roots from its own sub- 

 stance. Those varieties that naturally grow large and thrifty are not suitable 

 to put on to quince stocks, as they make wood faster than the root can sustain 

 it, and the root becomes exhausted. 



Pear trees should always have clean culture. Plenty of fine compost should 

 be well mixed with the soil in the autumn by means of a fork, and the ground 

 around the trees mulched. In the spring the mulch should be removed, the 

 ground stirred thoroughly with the fork, and the mulch replaced. Where salt 

 hay or rock-weed can be had they are preferable to anything else for mulching 

 pears, on account of the salt they contain. Where they cannot be obtained a 

 small quantity of salt is a valuable addition to the manure. 



Pear trees require rather severe pruning, which may be done with a sharp 

 knife in the spring. Large limbs should never be taken from them, as the 

 stumps heal with difficulty. The common fault of pear growers is to allow 

 the trees to bear too large crops. When they are young, and the fruit sets 

 abundantly, a great part of it should be picked ofiP. The remaining fruit will 

 be much finer, and the trees will not be exhausted by the crop, which is apt 

 to be the case when all the fruit that sets is suffered to grow. An almost un- 

 limited variety of pears may now be obtained at the nurseries, and cultivators 

 may indulge their taste and fancy in the selection, but no man will find it 

 profitable to attempt the cultivation of a great number of varieties. A dozen 

 kinds in a garden are better than a larger number. Indeed, the possessor of a 

 dozen good sorts has no occasion to envy him who possesses more. 



Many gardeners complain of repeated failures in their attempts to grow the 

 pear upon the quince stock. I think if the two following conditions were care- 

 fully attended to such complaints would be less frequent : In the first place, 

 select such varieties only as are suitable to be grown on the .quince ; and 

 secondly, set the roots at such a depth in the soil that the place of joining 

 shall be at least four inches below the surface, and keep the earth well pressed 

 around the body of the tree. When these conditions are faithfully obsei-ved 

 fruit will be obtained some years earlier than when the pear stock only is used, 

 if not as permanently. 



The following varieties are stated by Mr. Wilder, one of the most extensive 

 pear growers in the country, to be those which succeed well on the quince : 

 Beurre d'Amanlis, Louise Bonne de Jersey, Belle Lucrative, Urhaniste, Duchesse 

 d' Angoulhne, Beurre Did, Beurre d' Anjou, Vicar of Winhjield, Winter Nelis, 

 Glout Morceau, and Easter Beurre. Some varieties do well in one situ- 

 ation which will fail in another. Hence experience is the only guide. A well 

 drained, clayey loam may be set down as the soil best adapted to pears, though 

 they will often succeed on others. 



Near a good market, and where circumstances are favorable, pear culture 

 may be made extremely profitable. In the pear orchard of Mr. Bacon, of 

 Roxbury, Massachusetts, which contains about six hundred trees, there is one, 

 the crop from which, in 1861, was sold for forty-eight dollars; and another, a 

 Beurre Did, the crop from which, in 1S59, was sold for eighty-two dollars. 

 Mr. Bacon sells many pears every season at prices ranging from $1 50 to 

 $4 00 per dozen. 



]\Io.'^t of the finer pears should be gathered before they are quite i-ipe, and 

 kept upon shelves or in shallow boxes in a cool, moist atmosphere. They may 

 be removed to a warm, dry place a few days before they are to be used. 



