I860,] REPORT ON PEARS. 3T 



Bartlett, 12 oz. 



Beurre Nantais, 8J oz. 



Beiirre Snperfin 13^ oz. 



Dix, 9 



Lawrence, 6i oz. 



Marie Louise, 8j oz. 



Swan's Orange, 14i oz. 



Sieulle, 9J oz. 



St. Michael Arehange, 7^ oz. 



This certainly very remarkable increase in weight — an average of two ounces 

 apiece in twenty-four specimens of as many varieties — is chiefly to'^be attributed, 

 no doubt, to a very favorable season ; still, much also must be claimed for a 

 gradual improvement in the modes of cultivation, of which we every year have 

 new evidences. 



Our limits permitting, it would thus be easy to show how these exhibitions have 

 served as a horticultural school, to diffuse in the short period of twenty years, 

 a greater amount of valuable information on fruit culture, than would proba- 

 bly have been obtained from other sources in a century. 



The Committee having had considerable experience in the cultivation of the 

 Pear, it will not be deemed inappropriate for them to mention, in a general way, 

 what they consider to be essential to the production of fine specimens of this 

 noble fruit. These are : 



1st. Deep, generous tillage; by which is meant a trenching and manuring of 

 the soil from one and a half to three feet deep. In other countries, where 

 labor is cheaper and fruit dearer than they are here, this work is often extended 

 to a depth of four feet, receiving a profitable return, even from so small a 

 fruit-bearing plant as the strawberry. It is from a want of such cultivation 

 that the finest pear trees taken from our nurseries often die or come to nothing. 

 They have " no deepness of earth," — " no root " — and, as a natural conse- 

 quence, they share the fate of the wasted seed of the parable. 



As to the particular soils best suited to particular varieties of the fruit 

 under consideration, our present limits do not admit of any specifications. 



2d. Cultivation or Mulching of the surface, around the trees, for a distance 

 equal, at least, to the drip of their branches. But especial care should be 

 taken to avoid the slightest bruising of the roots, and the mulch must not be 

 so thick and heavy as to smother them. 



3d. Under-drainage, wherever the sub-soil is of a retentive nature. But all 

 covered drains, whether of tiles or stones, should not be less than three feet 

 deep, nor less than six or eight feet distant from the trunks of the trees ; for 

 many a fine tree set out directly above a shallow underground conduit has been 

 poisoned to death by the foul air therein contained. 



4th. Thinning of the fruit, especially of the class of trees known as " great 

 bearers." 



Pruning may be performed at any season of the year ; but the best time is 

 believed to be about the longest days of summer, while the worst effects that 

 happen arise from using the saw or knife during the full flow of sap in the 

 spring. An exception, however, must be made in cases where it is considered 

 necessary to head in a newly planted tree. 



Before proceeding further the Committee ought, in justice, to remark that they 

 were themselves largely represented where they were expected to recommend a 



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