FRUIT committee's REPORT. 75 



dish of the Beiirr6 Bichelier was exhibited by Mr. H Curtis. These spe- 

 cimens were larjie, perfectly fiir anrl smooth, and very handsome, and are 

 thonght deserving- of mention, because the fruit of this variety is generally 

 knotted or warty, as showing what may be expected of it when in skilful 

 hands or a suitable situation. 



De Tongres. As considerable interest has been excited respecting this 

 pear, it may not be amiss to state, as a matter of record, that though not 

 exhibited it has fruited the past year and been seen by some of the Com- 

 mittee. The specimens seen were of good size, but not equal in that 

 respect, or in beauty, to the colored representations of it ; they were of a 

 spirited, brisk flavor, somewhat like that of the Beurre d'Aremberg. 



By the rules of the Society, premiums can only be awarded to those who 

 are members. Contributions of those who are not, no matter how meritori- 

 ous, cannot participate therein. It may be, that there have been some that 

 would have been thought worthy of a prize, had such not been precluded 

 by this regulation. 



CAN WE GROW PEARS.? 



A few months since a communication, to which this question served as a 

 heading, appeared in the New York Tribune, from a writer of Buffalo, or 

 vicinity of that city. In this, after giving his views upon this subject, 

 mainly the result of facts in his own experience, the author concludes with 

 the expression of an opinion adverse to the cultivation of this fruit. 



To this communication a reply subsequently appeared in the columns of 

 the same journal, from Brooklyn, Long Island, in which, after controverting 

 the statements first presented, and fortifying the position assumed by a de- 

 tail of facts occurring under his own observation, the writer denies the 

 justice of the conclusions before drawn, and gives his views as directly 

 opposed to those that had been in the first instance expressed. 



The question presented relates to a matter of importance, especially if it 

 admits of a doubt, as the presentation of it seems to imply ; and as it has 

 already given rise to some discussion, it cannot be kept out of sight. Some 

 consideration of it, then, seems justifiable, if not demanded, on the present 

 occasion, such being intended to refer to this vicinity only. 



Facts are stubborn things, and, when well authenticated, cannot be gain- 

 sayed ; but a difference of opinion may well exist with respect to the infer- 

 ences to be thereby warranted. In each of the cases above alluded to, no 

 doubt is felt Avith respect to the correctness of the different statements of 

 facts submitted, but the question may well arise whether it would not have 

 been more just, in each case, to limit the effects of the inferences drawn 

 from these facts to the scenes of their occurrence, rather than to attempt to 

 establish general conclusions thereby as applicable to a country so exten- 

 sive, and with a soil and chmate so varied, as is the United States. 



Isolated cases of individual experience, or of a limited number of such, 

 hardly constitute data sufficiently safe to warrant any general conclusions 

 in relation to a subject like that now in hand, for such experiences may 



