436 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



I will answer. It will take just as much as willj 

 kill everythinff you plant or sow, except such plants , 

 as are of marine orifj^in. There is, however, one i 

 little experiment which I once made with complete ] 

 success. I had a spot thickly set with Canada this-! 

 ties where I wished to make a garden. I manured 

 the ground heivily, sowed with oats, and let this- 

 tles and oats grow together. When they were in 

 full bloom, I mowed them pretty high, and with a 

 tin coftcc-])ot of beef brine I filled up the hollow 

 stocks of the thistles with the same. To some this 

 might seem small business, but I passed over the 

 ground faster than I could hoe it when under culti- 

 vation. The result was, that I never saw any this- 

 tles grow there afterwards. I close this article by 

 declaring that I design to make my garden supply 

 my table with something fresh the year round. 

 Bethel, Me., Aug. 4, 1855. n. t. t. 



PROPER TIME FOR GATHERING 

 PEARS. 



A late number of the London Gardener's Chron- 

 icle contains an article upon this subject by M. 

 De Jonghe, of Brussels, a portion of which may 

 prove of service to some of our readers. He says : 



Formerly, when the varieties of jjears in cultivation 

 were comparatively few, there was Httle difficulty in 

 knowing the time when each sort ought to be gath- 

 ered ; but now, when the number of good varieties 

 is so much increased, the proper time for gather- 

 ing the res])ective sorts cannot be known without a 

 certain experience acquired during a period of from 

 three to five years, in order that a mean may be ob- 

 tained. For the maturity of the fruit on the tree 

 depends : — 



1. On the indi\idual constitution of the tree, and 

 its liabihty to change. 



2. On the soil in which the tree is planted. 



3. On the influence of the stock. 



4. On the temperature of the season, whether 

 more or less favorable for accelerating the maturity 

 of the fruit 



In order to know exactly the mean period of ma- 

 turity on the tree of any particular variety of fruit, 

 it is necessary to observe several trees of such vari- 

 ety, planted in different soils and situations. With 

 regird to the varieties of Pears which ripen at the 

 end of summer, or early in autumn, it is not diffi- 

 cult to fix the date when they should be gathered ; 

 for, in the same situation, this, in different j'ears, 

 does not vary more than 10 days. 



The influence of soil, of stocks and of tempera- 

 ture more or less warm and dry, is not so great on 

 early fruits as on the late autumn, winter and spring 

 varieties. With regard to the summer and early 

 autumn kinds, they cannot always be left to ripen 

 completely on the tree, grown as a pyramid or 

 standard, and it is needless to add that these sorts 

 of fruits do not, in our climate, merit a wall, where, 

 in fact, they are never so good as in the open ground. 

 When a considerable number of fruits is observed 

 to have reiched the point of maturity, and when, 

 with a slight jiressure of the thumb, the stallv is 

 readily detached, without twisting, at its junction 

 with the spur, a portion of the fruit should then be 

 gathered, and allowed to acquire their full maturity 

 in the fruit-room. This first gathering will ease 

 the tree, and the whole of the nutritive sap will l)e 

 directed towards the remaining fruits, which, in con- 



sequence, become much finer ; and these are gath- 

 ered in the same manner, and successionally. 



The operation of successional gathering may be 

 very advantageously followed up, because all the 

 fruits on a tree never ripen simultaneously ; and 

 that they may acquire full perfection, it is impor- 

 tant that they should be left on the tree to attain 

 the necessary degree of maturity, known to the 

 j)ractised eye by certain signs, which it would be 

 difficult to point out, without entering into tedious 

 details. 



With regard to the late autumn, winter and 

 spring pears, the same jiroceeding is adopted ; it is 

 only by successional gatherings that we can hit upon 

 the ])roper time, and know the happy medium be- 

 tween gathering too early or too late. The gath- 

 ering of these fruits, in season as above mentioned, 

 commences about the middle of September, and 

 continues till the end of October, or till just before 

 the fall of the leaves. 



When some fruits, neither bruised nor pierced 

 by insects, of a late variety of pear begin to drop, 

 although not affected by strong winds nor by 

 drought ; and when the leaves begin to turn yellow 

 and fall from the tree, an attentive and experienced 

 ])erson will ])erceive that the period of gathering is 

 at hand. 



The same kind of fruit cannot be gathered uni- 

 formly at the same date, owing to various circum- 

 stances which influence the ripening ; but by suc- 

 cessional gatherings, or at intervals, the proper 

 time for different localities is best ascertamed ; and 

 that, in general, all the varieties ought to be gath- 

 ered before their jierfect matm-ity, which should be 

 attained in the fruit-room. 



For the New England Farmer. 



"WHAT CONSTITUTES A COW OF 

 NATIVE BREED?" 



Mr. Editor : — The reperusal of the criticisms of 

 "W. S. L.," as they appear on the pages of the 

 Farmer for June, brings to mind the propriety of 

 replying to his inquiry, "■What constitutes a cow of 

 native breed P" Mr. L. saj s he understands by na- 

 tive breed, one indigenous to the county." That is, 

 born in, or having its origin in the county. If be- 

 ing born in makes the animal native, then all the 

 otis])ring of stock imported, that chance to be 

 dropped in the county, will be entitled to the ai> 

 pellation of native. But if the first origin of the 

 race must be shown to have been within the county, 

 then it is as well to admit, in the onset, that no 

 such thing can be shown ; because every one knows 

 that all our animals proceeded from stock imported, 

 at periods more or less remote. So that the re- 

 mark recently made in your paper is true, that the 

 discussion about native breeds resolves itself into a 

 talk about words, and ivords only. For this reason, 

 I hope to be excused attempting any further answer. 



I am happy in having drawn from my friend so val- 

 uable a mass of facts, relating to the stock of the coun- 

 ty of Worcester. But ho will jiardon me when I say, 

 that this statement of selected and petted animals 

 goes but a little way towards showing the real char- 

 acter of the entire stock of the county. Possibly 

 my estimate that nine-tenths of them were native, in 

 the sense of the term, as ordinarily used, may have 

 been extravagant; but from the best estimate in 

 my power to form, by the use of my eyes and my 



