Progress of Horticulture for 1847. 



Horticulture, 



The great and increasing interest which has been mani- 

 fested in pomology, has induced us to devote many articles 

 to the subject, and, among those in the last volume, are sev- 

 eral of great value to cultivators. The pear and the grape, 

 two of the most valued and delicious fruits our gardens can 

 claim, have been particularly treated upon. In our several 

 articles, we have described twenty-four varieties of pears, 

 some of which were entirely new, and never described by any 

 author : among them have been some American varieties of 

 rare merit. In addition to these, our correspondents have 

 noticed some of the choicest sorts, and commended their ex- 

 cellence : of the number, we may mention the article of Mr. 

 Walker (p. 118). Our Pomological Notices (p. 448) have also 

 enumerated several very new and recently introduced native 

 varieties. 



Upon the cultivation of the pear, our readers undoubtedly 

 recollect the capital article of Mr. Rivers, nurseryman near 

 London, whose place we have before noticed in our Foreign 

 Tour, (Vol. XL p. 169,) whose collection of pears is one of the 

 best in England, and whose experience in their cultivation is 

 very extensive. It is well worthy of the most attentive peru- 

 sal. We have repeatedly spoken of the superiority of the 

 quince stock for the pear, for garden cultivation, in our notes 

 of our Foreign Tour, when we had an opportunity to exam- 

 ine the trees in the London Horticultural Society's Garden, 

 in the Jardin des PI antes and Gardens of the Luxembourg 

 at Paris, as well as numerous private gardens, both in Eng- 

 land and France ; and all subsequent experience, practically, 

 has convinced us that it should be recommended to all cul- 

 tivators. Mr. Rivers has, indeed, demonstrated this, if bet- 

 ter demonstration be needed. We have, however, much 

 information, derived from our experience, that we shall, ere 

 long, offer to cultivators. Actual knowledge is what is need- 

 ed, and the want of this has often been the means of preju- 

 dicing many against the use of the quince stock ; it is well 

 known that many sorts of pears will not unite kindly with 

 the quince, and the consequence is, that, in a year or two, 



