CHARACTER, HISTORY AND CULTURE 

 OF THE PEAR. 



[By Gen. H. A. S. Dearborn, First President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.] 



" I have given you every tree, in which is fruit, yielding seed." 



As the food of man, in his primeval condition, chiefly consisted of the 

 aUmentary products of the natural forest, the culture of trees which 

 yielded the most nutritive and agreeable kinds of fruit, must have been his 

 first step in the march of civilization ; while the method of ameliorating 

 their character and multiplying the varieties, may be considered as taking 

 precedence of all human efforts in the industrial arts. 



The cereal grams next claimed attention, in consequence of such an 

 increase of population as rendered it necessary, that the greatest quantity 

 of food should be obtamed from the smallest area of land, to meet the 

 demand, which had thus been augmented far beyond the means to be 

 derived from the original sources of supply. 



Those two branches of rural industry, may, therefore, be traced back to 

 the most distant periods of history ; but, with the advancement of civiliza- 

 tion, the culture of fruit trees assumed a reversed position, and became an 

 occupation, which administered to the comforts and pleasures, rather than 

 the necessities of man ; and ultimately attained such an important elevation, 

 by the developements of letters and science, the extension of commerce, 

 the achievements of mechanical mgenuity, the creations of painting, archi- 

 tecture and sculpture, the accumulations of wealth, and the luxurious 

 refinements of nations, as to be ranked among the most exalted of the arts. 

 To trace the progress of cultivation, and give even a succinct account 

 of the numerous species of fruit which can be reared within the temperate 

 zones, belongs to a more expanded field than can be explored on the 

 present occasion. It is, therefore, deemed sufficient, if we confine ourselves 

 to the history, character and culture, of one species, in the first number of a 

 work which is intended to afford such exact information on the pomology 

 of the United States, as Avill require many years for its completion, and 

 we have consequently selected the Pear, as being the most valuable in the 

 whole catalogue, which can be acclimated in this portion of our country. 



Among all the fruits which are produced upon the earth, the highest 

 position has been given to the Mangostan,=^ which is indigenous to Java 



*Garcinia, niangostan. 



