326 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jl-LT 



For the New Kngland Fanner. 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT PEARS. 



I am much pleased, Mr. Editor, with your plan 

 of giving pictorial representations of different varie- 

 ties of fruit — particularly pears. The picture of 

 the old St. Michael, in the Farmer of May 24, was 

 so true to life, that I could almost taste the flavor 

 of it. You say truly that the St. Michael has 

 "many names," but I think you are mistaken in 

 supposing that it is called, in New York, the "Ver- 

 galieu." As far as my knowledge goes, the Verga- 

 lieu, in New York, is identical with the pear of the 

 same name raised in New England, and throughout 

 the West, and which differs materially from the St. 

 Michael, though, like that, it has many synonymes. 

 The Virgalieu, or "Virgouleuse," was one of the 

 first pears ever imported into this country from 

 France, where it was not only called by the name 

 it bears here, but also by those of de Glace, 

 Bezi Royale, Chambrette, &c. This fruit is still, 

 I understand, to be found occasionally in the 

 markets of Paris, but has very much deteriorated 

 under the peculiar modes of French culture. — 

 It grows well in western New York, and in the 

 Western States, so far as my knowledge extends, 

 but it has seldom succeeded well for any length of 

 time here in Massachusetts. The same may be said 

 of late years of the St. Michael, the wood of which 

 cankers, and the fruit of which blasts and cracks 

 when exposed to our east winds. In situations 

 where it can be protected from these, I believe it 

 can still be cultivated in perfection, and I am loth 

 to suppose that this fine old variety is to be entire- 

 ly given up, although I believe there are other va- 

 rieties equally good and equally prolific. In Rhode 

 Island and Connecticut it has been cultivated under 

 the name of the Garner pear, hut in France it gen- 

 erally goes by the title of Doyenne Blanc, or 

 Beurre Blanc. 



There are several comparatively new varieties of 

 pears now coming rapidly into vogue here, among 

 which I will mention the Rostleza and UAngolier. 

 The wood of the former is almost as dark as that 

 of the Baldwin apple, and it grows very thriftily 

 upon the quince stock. The fruit is small, though 

 somewhat larger than the Seckel, equally high fla- 

 vored, and the tree comes much earlier into bear- 

 ing. The L'Angolier 1 have not yet tried, though 

 I have reason to believe it will prove one of our 

 very best varieties. 



I saw in a recent number of the Farmer, an arti- 

 cle from a nurseryman in New Hampshire, (Mr. 

 Copp, of Wakefield,) on the subject of "double- 

 working" the pear — that is, grafting or budding on 

 stocks which have been already grafted or budded. 

 The object of this is to obtain the fine varieties 

 which are weak of wood upon stocks of those varie- 

 ties known to be good growers. This has been tried 

 f)retty effectually by the French fruit-growers but I 

 earn that it is now generally abandoned by Ihem, 

 as a practice which deteriorates both the tree and 

 the fruit. ]Mr. Copp mentions the Jargonelle as a 

 good variety for double-working, but I think he has 

 fallen into the same error with many other nursery- 

 men, and substituted the Q^idsse Madame for the 

 Jargonelle. The latter is not vigorous, so far as I 

 have knowledge of it, and I have seen it under a 

 great variety of circumstances. So far as my ex- 

 perience goes, the very best grower upon the 

 quince stock is the Beurre d\%\auUs, and on the 



pear stock the Beurre Diet. If nurserymen are 

 disposed to try the experiment of double working, 

 either upon the pear or quince, I think they will 

 find these two the best varieties for that purpose, 

 though I by no means recommend the experiment, 

 except in cases where fruit ])roves to be bad, as is 

 the case with the Beurre Diel upon some wet and 

 heavy soils. 



In closing, permit me to say that I have seen the 

 best exemplification of the growth of the difierent 

 varieties of the pear upon quince stocks, in the ex- 

 tensive nursery of Mr. Geo. W. Wilson, of Mai- 

 den. Whole rows of the Beurre d\^maulis, Ros- 

 tieza, &c., grow with extraordinary vigor and 

 thrift, while rows of other varieties, budded at the 

 same time and treated in the same way, make but 

 a feeble and sickly appearance. I would give more 

 for a look at the results of ]\Ir. Wilson's thorough, 

 live experiments, in budding upon the Anglers 

 quince, than for whole hecatombs of newspaper 

 speculations upon the subject of "double working." 



Somerville. E. c. p. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



A BIG CALF. 



One of my neighbors, Mr. Samuel Arnold, has a 

 Durham cow which dropped a calf the 23d inst., 

 that weighed 1 17^ pounds when 8 hours old. 



Searsmont, Me., May, 1856. 



FREAK OF NATURE. 



Mr. Brown : — Enclosed you will find proof 

 that Mother Earth does not always bring forth 

 fruit according to the common course of events, or 

 ordinary expectations of men. Our farmers have 

 too little failh in her promi,-e to return a crop in 

 proportion to the care bestowed upon her cultiva- 

 tion. The sample of wheat I forward you, is from 

 a lot of seventy bushels, raised on one and three- 

 fourths acres, by Horace Kingsbury, Warren, Vt., 

 the last season. The above crop was sold for seed 

 at $3 per bushel, except a small lot which made 

 52 lbs. fine flour per buushel, without tolling. 

 The above wheat was the Rio Grande. Mr. K.. 

 sows 8 or 10 acres this yesr. P. J. 



Remarks. — The specimen of wheat sent us with 

 the above is very fine — the kernels are large, clear, 

 and handsomely shaped. Farmers purchase too 

 much flour. 



TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 



Dear Sir : — I think I have seen it somewhere 

 stated, that evergreens, such as the Fir, Balsam, 

 and common White Pine, may be transplanted 

 with success in June. Will you inform me 

 through your paper respecting it, and if it is the 

 best time. Yours, S. D. Wiieaton. 



Orange, May, 1856. 



Remarks. — Transplant evergreens any time, be- 

 fore they begin to grow. 



BOG brakes. 



Cut them off a little below the surface of the 

 ground, with an old axe or hoe ; they will seldom 

 show their heads again, if done about the first of 

 June. C. 



Braitlehoro', Vt, 1856. 



