184 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



dollars a ton. I consider it worth two-thirds the 

 amount of English hay. Last year, I sowed li 

 acres. The product was large in straw, but ow- 

 ing to the wet weather, the kernel was not as 

 fair as usual. I am satisfied that I have been 

 amply repaid for my experiments in raising 

 wheat. I have bought but little flour the past 

 four years. I usually get five bushels ground at 

 a time. This will fill a barrel with flour. Then 

 there will be a bushel of second quality, which 

 makes excellent warm bread, a half a bushel of 

 Graham flour, and the shorts or bran. The seed 

 I prepare as follows : First I soak it 24 hours 

 in strong brine, and then roll it in lime. Wheat 

 I consider the very best grain to sow with grass 

 seed when I wish to seed down to grass." 



Yours, &c., Jos. Reynolds. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HOW. MAKSHA-LL P. "WILDEK OM 



PEARS. 



I notice in the proceedings of one of the re- 

 cent agricultural meetings at the State House, 

 that the Hon. Marspiall P. Wilder gave a list 

 of those varieties of pears which he deemed best 

 suited to the climate and soil of Massachusetts. 

 No man can have a higher opinion of Mr. Wild- 

 er than myself. His eflPorts for the improvement 

 of agriculture in general, and horticulture in 

 particular, are worthy of all praise. His experi- 

 ence as a pomologist would also seem to give 

 great weight to his opinions. Still, I must beg 

 to diflfer with his deliberately expressed judg- 

 ment in regard to the varieties of pears best 

 adapted to our soil and climate. And I think if 

 you were to take the testimony of any number of 

 nurserymen in the State on the same subject, you 

 would find no two of them were agreed in opin- 

 ion. There are so many circumstances of soil, 

 position, culture, &c., which go to influence the 

 quantity and quality of the pear crop, that he 

 who follows the advice of any one cultivator, will, 

 nine chances in ten, fail in his expectations. 



The list of pears referred to, as given by Mr. 

 Wilder, is as follows ; 



Best Six — Bartlett, Urbaniste, Vicar of Wink- 

 field, Bufi'um, Buerre d'Anjou, and Lawrence. 



For Best Txvelve — Add to the above, Rostie- 

 eer, Merriam, Doyenne Boussock, Belle Lucra- 

 tive, Flemish Beauty, and Onondaga. 



Best Six on Quince Boots — Louise Bonne de 

 Jersey, Urbaniste, Duchesse d'Angouleme, Vicar 

 of Winkfield, Buerre d'Anjou and Glout Mor- 

 ceau. 



Now as to the Bartlett, the value of that pear 

 is admitted. It is indispensable to every good 

 collection. The Urbaniste is also a highly prized 

 fruit, but on some soils it is. as every nursery- 

 man knows, a shy bearer. The Vicar of Wink- 

 field (its synonyms, Clion, Le Cure, mean the 

 same thing, for Clion was the name of the vicar 

 or curate of Winkfield, who originated the fruit,) 

 is a good bearer, and a handsome pear for the 

 market ; but so far from rightfully pertaining to 

 the six best varieties, it ought to be set down as 

 from second-rate to poor. I never tasted one of 

 these pears, that I considered first-rate ; I have 

 tasted a great many that were hardly fit to eat. 

 The Winter Nelis is a better fruit, and so is the 



Beurre d' Aremberg. On warm soils, the Beurre 

 Diel beats it "all to pieces." Ditto, ditto, the 

 Easter Beurre. As for the Bufi'um, it is good in 

 some localities, but not reliable in all. The 

 Beurre d'Anjou promises well, but is not as yet 

 fully tested. The Lawrence is a good fruit, but not 

 in all cases a good bearer. In my judgment, the 

 Beurre Clairgeau deserves a place among the 

 "first six" in preference to any named by Mr. 

 Wilder, except, perhaps, the Bartlett and Urban- 

 iste ; while the Louise bonne de Jersey ought to 

 take precedence of all except the Bartlett. 



When we come to Mr. Wilder's "best twelve," 

 I should strike out the Merriam and the Onon- 

 daga (or Swan's Orange,) and retain the others, 

 if not "counted out" by those I have named. The 

 Doyenne Boussock is identical with the Gray 

 Doyenne, and in my opinion, is only a modifica- 

 tion of the old White Doyenne or St. Michael. 

 Any one who will carefully examine the wood, 

 the foliage, or the fruit, must come to this con- 

 clusion. How this modification has been brought 

 about — whether by budding or grafting on the 

 quince, the thorn, or the mountain ash, and then 

 back again upon the pear — it is impossible to 

 say ; but the fact is "patent upon its face." The 

 improvement is certainly an important one ; for 

 while the White Doyenne cracks badly both on 

 the pear and quince stock, the Gray cracks only 

 occasionally on the pear, and on the quince is a 

 perfect and most exquisitely flavored fruit, such 

 as was the St. Michael in its palmiest days. 



As for the Glout Morceau, which Mr. Wilder 

 puts down among the "best six on quince," I 

 shall be better able to give my opinion of it, 

 when I have raised the first specimen of the 

 fruit. As yet, on pear or on quince, I have not 

 been able to raise the first blossom of a Glout 

 Morceau, though I have practiced all the arts of 

 persuasion now known to me. I think this pear 

 is generally voted a very shy bearer, and if Mr. 

 Wilder has succeeded better with it than others, 

 I must believe it an exceptional case. The qual- 

 ity of the fruit is admitted on all hands to be 

 good. 



But how is it that Mr. Wilder leaves out of 

 his lists such pears as the L'Angelier, the An- 

 drews, and the Beurre Gris d'Hiver Noveau ? 

 Either of these is a better pear, in my judgment, 

 than one-half of those named in the above lists. 

 So you see, Mr. Editor, that in the quality of pears, 

 as in almost everything else, "doctors diflPer." 

 My own practice is almost homoeopathic, com- 

 pared with that of Mr. Wilder ; but my obser- 

 vation in regard to the pear culture has been 

 pretty extensive, nevertheless. 



I think much good would result, if those en- 

 gaged in the pear culture would state, through 

 the agricultural press, as nearly as possible, the 

 quality of soil on which the diff"erent varieties 

 have best succeeded. A "comparison of notes" 

 in this particular, could hardly fail to add to the 

 common stock of knowledge in fruit-growing. I 

 am satisfied that there are several otherwise 

 good varieties of pears which it is useless to at- 

 tempt to cultivate on a clay soil, or where the 

 argillite is a predominating element. 



Somerville. E. c. P. 



Cold Water to Cure Scalds. — I placed a 

 large tub full of cold water, with plenty of ice in 



