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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



Middlesex Agricultural Society. The whole affair 

 ■was admirably managed, and we have no doulit, will 

 contribute to the interest which has been already 

 awakened in the various dej)artinents of agriculture 

 and horticulture, among the inhabitants of this pat- 

 riotic town. Yoiu-s, J. R. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



A GLANCE AT A NEW HAMPSHIRE 

 FRUIT GARDEN. 



Pear Growing at Laconia. 

 BY H. F. FRENCH. 



Up in New Hampshire, some twenty miles above 

 Concord, on the Concord and Montreal railroad, 

 lies the new town of Laconia, recently created by 

 an act of the General Court, out of part of the ter- 

 ritory of Meredith. The Adllage is separated from 

 Gilford by the clear and beautiful stream, through 

 which the waters of the small bays above, and of 

 "NVinnipisseogee Lake still higher, are brought into 

 Sanbornton Bay. This stream is of itself "a thing 

 of beauty," and so, according to somebody, "is a joy 

 forever" to the beholder. It is worth a journey 

 from old Concord, in the Bay State, for Hawthorne, 

 and Emerson, and Thoreau, and Channing, who 

 have so sweetly "dreamed dreams" over the tran- 

 quil waters of the sleeping Concord and Assabeth, 

 to "see visions" by the rushing, sparkling, wakeful, 

 though I believe nameless river, M'hich brings the 

 mountain s])rings from "the Chrystal Hills," in a 

 broad stream, so constant and rapid, that the heat 

 of summer does not narrow it, nor the chains of 

 winter bind it for a moment. To be sure, one seems 

 to hear in its noisy current, loud boastings of its 

 power and usefulness, hoAV, after finding its way 

 to the Merrimack, it can turn the mighty factory 

 wheels at Manchester and Lawrence ; and after all, 

 one begins to doubt, whether a more serene and 

 peaceful existence, hke that of the Concord, whose 

 very name denotes its character, is not better than 

 this mad spirit of unrest, and this ability to serve 

 the purposes of man, which tempts him ever to en- 

 slave and ruin. 



But we need not detract from the striking beauty 

 of this dividing line of Gilford and liaconia, by any 

 efforts at sentiment. Listead of following it in fiict 

 or fancy to the ocean, take an afternoon drive with 

 an agreeable companion over Pollard's Hill at the 

 east, or farther on, ascend Mount Belknap, and a 

 ■\-iew will meet the eye, such as is not sm-passed for 

 beauty and grandeur in New England. Below, on 

 the west, stretching away, among hills which push 

 boldly down to its shores, lies the Great Bay, while 

 at short intervals above. Long Bay and Round Bay 

 reflect the light of the setting sun, and Laconia, and 

 Gilford, and Lake Village, nestling down between 

 the hills in the distance, seem Hke some faiiy 

 dwellings in a vast and variegated artificial pleasure 

 ground of the giants. Northerly, in full \'iew, lies 



the great lake, with its countless islands, one, it is 

 estimated, for each day in the year, the lake so beau- 

 tiful, that it was called by the Indians by its pre- 

 sent name, which signifies "The Smile of the Great 

 Sj)irit," and away in the distance, the White Hills, 

 known first in history as "The Chrystal Mountains," 

 lift up their towering heads. 



But I must descend from these heights to more 

 sober views, and leave scenes on which it is plea- 

 sant to look back, merely saying in conclusion, that 

 sensible men and women of late, who leave the 

 cities in summer, are finding out the villages I have 

 named, and spending their weeks of leisure there, 

 instead of seeking the crowded hotels of fashiona- 

 ble watering-places. 



In this new ^^llage of Laconia, among many 

 other gentlemen of taste in horticultural matters, 

 lives my friend and cousin, Henry J. French, 

 whose well-deserved honors, in the way of fruit ex- 

 hibitions at our State Fair, I have, from the simi- 

 larity of our names, sometimes divided with him, 

 M'hile he, innocent victim of this, to him, unfortu- 

 nate coincidence, has occasionally had laid to his 

 charge some less desirable products of my pen. As 

 for myself, I have no idea of applying to the Legis- 

 lature for a change of name, to escape the credit of 

 his fruit-growing. He is at liberty to do so, when- 

 ever he finds the vicarious punishment of my edito- 

 rial sins too grievous to be borne. Mr. French has 

 at present, in my judgment, decidedly the best fruit 

 garden I have ever seen in New Hampshire. It 

 covers about two acres of land, of what I should 

 call, part a sandy loam, and jwrt a gravelly loam, 

 over a hard pan, a little elevated above the level of 

 the village generally, but not so high but that the 

 mist which usually rises in the autumn from the 

 water protects it from the early frosts. He has 

 forty varieties of pears, nearly all in bearing this 

 year, all the best varieties of plums, a good selection 

 of apples, with most of the small fruits that can be 

 cultivated in this region. He has occupied the 

 place but eight years, though a part of his grounds 

 had been before occupied by Hon. Wm. C. Clark, 

 now of Manchester, who had commenced the work 

 of planting fruit trees. I have elsewhere seen well 

 cultivated trees, and perfect fruit, but I think New 

 England could not show, this season, a garden con- 

 taining an equal number of ])ear and plum trees 

 more uniformly healthy, and more fully laden with 

 fruit in its highest perfection. The secret of his 

 success is, that having a location neither too wet nor 

 too dry, he has ordered his trees from the best nur- 

 series, ])aid for them the highest prices, and given 

 them the best cultivation he knew how to bestow. 

 Most of us do no such thing. We know that dwarf 

 pears require a rich soil, dee])ly trenched, that they 

 should be headed in, and kept in pyramidal form, 

 and that the fruit be thinned out, to prevent over- 

 bearing. I know a great many cultivators who 



