72 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1880. 



succession of ravenous crops ? The poet represents the prhicely 

 philosopher of Denmark as reminding- his friend, — 



" There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, 

 Than are dreamt of in our philosophy." 



We planted our Pear-trees in virgin soil and gathered from 

 them in profusion. Stable-manure, wood-ashes, soap-suds, refuse 

 lime, or wool waste, one and all were returned to the earth, as 

 fertilizers, when obtained ; and, so long as obtained and used, 

 there was fruit in abundance, while the Blight was unknown. 

 After the waste of fertilizing substances, coeval with, or conse- 

 quent upon the inroad of sewers, ensued emanations poisoning 

 the atmosphere that, lethal to man, may well result in vegetable 

 atrophy and death. We might have our choice of theories, were 

 they worth election. Rejecting them, — how shall we decide the 

 conflict of inconsistent facts ! 



After all, if a really good Winter pear should prove impossible 

 of attainment, we must console ourselves with the knowledge 

 that one, at least, of the Autumnal varieties is re-appearing, here 

 and there, after a long interval, in more than pristine excel- 

 lence. The St. Michel, — a tradition to most of this audience, — 

 as lately shown from Linden Street and the Bloomingdale Road, 

 more than justifies the faith of yore : and exemplifies, as nothing 

 else could, so well, the final perseverance of pomological saints. 



The growth of fine Pears, in this County, is not difficult : and 

 there is no reason why a journal,* widely circulated among our 

 farmsteads, should convey such an idea. " A sheltered location 

 is of the highest importance. If it is not furnished naturally, 

 then it should be done with close hedses, and high board fences. 

 The land should also be thorouglily underdrained." It would be 

 interesting to learn how many of the Members of this Society 

 have planted their trees, or are now cultivating tliem under such 

 conditions ! An orchard, upon the promontory of Nahant, must 

 not be suffered to stand for an example to the pomologists of 

 Worcester. Boreas seldom breathes in zephyrs : but who shall 

 say that there is not health in the blast, and that, cool and 

 bracing, it does not benefit the tree, rendering it sturdier, and, 



* The Massachusetts Ploughman. 



