4 



The Canadian Hortiailtnnst. 



Pears weigh one-third lieavier 

 than apples for the same bulk, and 

 therefore, especially for such large 

 kinds as the Duchesse, the half-barrel 

 or keg is much preferable to the 

 barrel ; it is so much more easily 

 handled, and will command a better 

 price in proportion. 



Grown on standards the Duchesse 

 is somewhat uncertain, both in size 

 and quality; but grown on dwarf 

 trees it is most delicious and of the 

 best quality, and certainly an honor 

 to the Duchesse d'Angouleme of 

 France, even if it was a seedling 

 found in a hedge near Angers. Pro- 

 bably no pear will better respond to 

 liberal culture than it does ; and a 

 liberal cutting back of a portion of 

 the new growth often results in the 

 production of samples over one pound 

 in weight. Indeed, we have found 

 that in the case of dwarf trees of 

 some ag£, which were bearing small 

 and knotty fruit, a wholesale cutting 



back of the old wood was most bene- 

 ficial, resulting in a vigorous young 

 growth, and consequently in fruit of 

 much improved form. 



We reproduce from The Garden 

 an engraving of a new style of train- 

 ing dwarf pear trees, which is now 

 being adopted in England with con- 

 siderable success. It is bush form 

 of training, the trees branching at 

 the ground and not being allowed to 

 form an}' trunk. In this way the\- 

 may be planted at a distance of six 

 feet apart, and kept so low that no 

 ladders are required in gathering the 

 fruit. Trees thus grown have pro- 

 duced a prodigious crop in the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's garden at 

 Chiswick, near London. Another 

 advantage of this mode of culture 

 was observed in this, that very little 

 damage was done these trees bv 

 storms, while standards were half- 

 stripped of their fruit by high 

 winds. 



SOME PROMINENT CANADIAN HORTICULTURISTS.— VI. 



REV. ROBERT BURNET. 



THOSE of us who were in atten- 

 dance at the meetings of our 

 Association during the years from 1869 

 to 1879 will recognise in the accompany- 

 ing steel engraving the genial face of one 

 who, during those years, filled the presi- 

 dential chair with distinguished ability, 

 characterized by geniaHty of manner; 

 his warm greetings were always appreci- 

 ated by us as he welcomed us to the 

 meetings ; and his vivacity gave great 

 liveliness to the discussions, while his 

 manner of eliciting information from 

 each one present was eminently suc- 

 cessful. 



Regarding the life of the Rev. Robert 

 Burnet, we have only a few bare facts at 

 our command from which to compile 

 this sketch. His father, James Burnet, 

 and his progenitors for five generations, 

 were natives of Ladykirk, Berwickshire. 

 Scotland ; he was a lineal descendant of 

 the Burnet family, who, for five hundred 

 years, were millers in Neustead Mill, 

 and afterwards in Tweed Mill, as pub- 

 lished by Dr. Chalmers in a volume of 

 his " Miscellany." His mother was 

 Elizabeth Blair, daughter of David 

 Blair, once tacksman of the Home 

 Farm, F"loors Castle, Roxburghshire. 



