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'^^' THE GENESEE FARMER. 



iiortirultural frjiartniciit. 



CULTIVATION OF DWAKF PEAKS. 



■ As a general rule, anything which retards the 

 growth of a tree has a tendency to force it into pre- 

 mature or unnatural fruitfulness. To attain this ob- 

 ject, various methods are emploj'ed, among them root 

 pruning, and grafting on a slower growing stock. 

 Thus the apple is dwarfed and thrown into early 

 fruitfulness by grafting on the slow growing Doucain 

 or Paradise stock, the plum on the myrabolan or sloe, 



■^ the cherry on the Mahaleb, the apricot on the plum, 



^- and the pear on the quint^e. Trees so "worked," or 

 grafted, are in an exceedingly artificial condition, and 

 require very careful and judicious cultivation. Ap- 

 ples, cherries, plums, apricots, &c., are all cultivated 

 in this country as dwarfs, but to a limited extent 

 only as compared with the pear, which, in its natural 

 • condition, is much longer than any other fruit in 



" coming into bearing. 



Pear trees budded on quince stocks Qa.n be pur- 

 chased in the nurseries in the spring, planted out in 



^^. our gardens, and fruited the following summer or 

 autumn. True, it is not advisable to let them bear 

 fo early; but the second or third year froEi planting, 

 the trees, if vigorous, may be allowed to bear con- 

 siderable fruit, though not full crops. It will be 

 readily seen that dwarf pears are peculiarly adapted 

 to a new country, where this delicious fruit is scarce; 

 and it is not to be v/ondered at that hundreds, and 

 even thousands, have rushed into their cultivation, 

 without adequate knowledge or experience. 



The artificial condition of pears on the quince stock 

 renders great care and skill necessary for their suc- 

 cessful cultivation, and it is not surprising that we 

 hear of many failures. But because some cultivators 

 have been urifortunate in their choice of varieties, in 

 their selection of Boil and Htuation, and in their 

 method of prunit5g, manuring and general manage- 

 tnent, they are hardly justified in raising tl>e cry of 

 "humbug," with-out stopping to inquire whether others 

 have not been more successful. During the last six 

 or eight months, an animated discussion has been 

 oarried on in some of the agricultural and horticul- 

 tural journals on this suljject, which has clearly 

 demonstrated that while m;uiy cultivators have failed 

 to obtain satisfactory results, others have succeeded 

 beyond their most sanguine expectations. We have 

 Jiot the remotest pecuniary interest in this matter, 

 and take pleasure in saying that the leading nursery- 

 men in this city who advocate the extensive cultiva- 

 tion of dwarf pears, are sustained in their position 

 v>y the fine crops w^iich thev annually obtain from 

 ftbeir extensive orcharda of specimen dwarf pear trees. 



No one can walk through the grounds of Messrs 

 Ellwanger & Barry, H. E. Hooker & Co., and 

 other skillful and intelligent nurserymen, without 

 being satisfied that dwarf pear trees are not only 

 eminently ornamental, but that their judicious culti- 

 vation is a source of great pleasure and profit. We 

 may also add that the profitable cultivation of dwarf 

 pears in this vicinity is not confined to nurserymen; 

 there are amateur cultivators who have been equally 

 successful, and who are annually increasing the num- 

 ber of their dwarf pear trees. 



A short time ago, Mr. Wii. Stoms read a paper 

 before the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, in which 

 he strongly condemned dwarf pears, and alluded to 

 some remarks made at the last meeting of the Ameii- 

 can Pomological Society in this city, by the Presi- 

 dent, Hon. M. P. Wilder, of Boston. Among 

 other things, Mr. Stoms says: 



" When the friends of dwarf pear culture shall come 

 forward, and, with ' bill of particulars,' show me an 

 orchard of five hundred dwarf pear trees that have 

 been ten years planted, which have borne fruit success- 

 fully and paid cost, I will give up the contest." 



After alluding to his own orchards, which are very 

 extensive, and contain many hundreds (and we be- 

 lieve thousands) of pear trees on quince stocks, some 

 of which are thirty years old, Mr. Wilder in rej)ly to 

 the above, says : 



" Now we cannot carry our orchards to Ohio, but if 

 friend Stoms will take the cars next August for Boston, 

 and advise me of the time and at what depot he will 

 arrive, I will have a carriage in readiness, talve him to 

 my liouse, have a good chat with him in the evening 

 .on pomology, give him the best bed and board we 

 have, and in the morning he shall see my pear trees 

 and the memoranda of my sales of fruit for tlie past 

 few j^ears. 



" I will then take him to my neighbor Austin's, the 

 treasurer of the Massachusetts horticultural society, 

 who has five hundred and ten pear trees. All tlicse are 

 on tlie quince root, witli the exception of one or two 

 dozens which are on rtie pear root ; but as the.se latter 

 have borne but little fruit, Mr. S. will not object to 

 their being counted in the lot. These trees are from 

 eleven to thirteen years of age. One hundred of them 

 are Louise bonne de Jerseys. These trees commeiict •i 

 bearing about three years after planting, have borne 

 regular and abundant crops ever since, and are now in 

 a very vigorous and healthy condition. No account 

 of the crops was kept until the year 1851, but Mr. 

 Austin has kindly furnished me with the amount of 

 his sales sinre that date. The total sales for six years, 

 was $.3,408. 7G. The original cost of these trees was 

 about fifty cents each, or ^250. Mr, Austin' is a mer- 

 chant, and goes to tlie city every day, and the only 

 help he has had, is the service of a man who also 

 takes care of his stables and grounds. He has, liow- 

 ever, given tliemhis personal attention, and good cul- 

 tivation, but I think, without further estimate of 'co.«?,' 

 we maj' reasonably conclude that these 'five hundred 

 trees' have ' borne succesufuUy^ and paid cost.' 



'■* We will then take a ride over to the Messrs. Ho- 

 vey's, whare we shall find a much larger number of 

 pear trc£s, on the quince root. Their beautiful avenues 

 are lined with them, some of which are from fifteen 

 to twenty years of age, but as it will occupy perhaps 

 too much time to examine all of them, we will t.ike 

 one walk as an example. How delighted Mr. S. must 

 be to see 220 pear trees, 110 on each side, loaded with 

 their luscious fruit, only eigb.t or nine years planted, 

 and all independently on the quince root. The pro- 



