£54 



THE GENESEE FAR?.fER 



Beurre Sis. — Tree vigorous and fertile, but re- 

 quires to be worked on the Pear stock and g^-own 

 against a wall. It is not adapted for pyramidal 

 training. Fruit large, pyriform ; skin smooth, light 

 green, dotted mth deep green and brown. Flesh 

 ■white, very fine, melting, buttery and sugary, with a 

 delicious perfumed flavor. Its season of maturity is 

 November and December, in Belgium. Raised by 

 M. Six, nurseryman at Courtray. 



Duchcsse de Berry* — This is naturally classed 

 among the Doyennes. In some catalogues it is con- 

 founded with the Doyenne (TEte, from which, how- 

 ever, it is very different. The tree is vigorous and 

 very productive. The fruit is middle-sized, somewhat 

 larger than the Doyenne (TEte or Doyenne de Julliet. 

 Skin smooth, pale green, dotted with brown. Stalk 

 short and thick. Flesh white, crisp, juicy and sugary. 

 Eipens at Nantes between the 15th of August and 

 the 15th of September. This variety was discovered 

 by M. Becneau, nurseryman at Nantes. Among a 

 number of seedling trees at a place called the Barriere 

 de Fer, commune de Saint Herblain, he observed two 

 trees, the fruits of which appeared to possess merit ; 

 to one of them he gave the name of Duchesse de 

 Berry, and to the other that of Saint Herblain 

 d'Hiver, and introduced them into his nurserj' in 

 1827. 



Saint Herblain d'Hiver. — The tree does not suc- 

 ceed well on the Quince stock, but on the Pear stock 

 it is tolerably vigorous, and is suitable for standards 

 or pp-amids. The fruit bears considerable resem- 

 blance to the Easter Beurre, from which it has 

 probably been raised, and at first sight might be mis- 

 taken for it. It is of medium size, or rather small 

 when the tree is heavily loaded. Skin smooth, green, 

 sprinkled with small brown dots. Stalk short, deep 

 brown. Flesh fine, white, juicy and sugary. Al- 

 though the tree is not so vigorous as many others, 

 yet it appears deserving of cultivation, as the fruit 

 keeps till late in the season. 



Marie Anne de A'ancy. — Tree moderately vigorous, 

 and likely to prove a good bearer. Fruit middle- 

 sized, turbinate, about nine inches in circumference. 

 SMa smooth, green, streaked and speckled with rus- 

 set, becoming yellowish when fit for use. Stalk 

 scarcely half an inch in length, clear brown, thick 

 and fleshy. Flesh white, very melting and butteiy, 

 with an abundance of sugary vinous juice. Ripe 

 in September and October. From seed by Van 

 Moxs. 



Doctor Trousseau. — The tree bore for the first 

 time in 1848. It is entu-ely destitute of thorns, whicli 

 is rarely the case with Pear trees that have recently 

 been raised from seed. Fruit large, pyriform, broad 

 near the eye and contracted near the stalk. It is four 

 inches in height and three inches in diameter. The 

 stalk is strong and woody, about an inch in length, 

 sunk at its insertion. Skin green, spotted with red 

 and sprinkled with gray dots. Flesh fine, white, 

 melting, buttery, with abundance of sugary, perfumed 

 juice. Ripe in November and December. Rai.sed 

 by M. Alexander Bivert. — London Gardeners' 

 Chronicle. 



* This ghould be called Duchesse de Berry dEte, to distinguisli 

 ix from another pear lately sold under the name of Duchesse de 

 Berry, and which has proved to be the Ucedale St. Germain. 



THE APPLE ORCHARDS. 



Much of late years has been wTitten and said about 

 apple orchards and their cultivation. On most all 

 farms of any extent in the Eastern or Northern 

 States, there are more or less of old apple orchards. 

 These, for the most part, have been left to grow up 

 and take care of themselves, which, in the long nm, 

 amounts to just no care at all. The consequence has 

 been that they have become by this neglect unthrifty, 

 scrubby trees, full of dead limbs, the trunk and limbs 

 covered with moss and rough bark, presentiug an 

 unsightly appearance ; and in eight or ten years, the 

 farmer, in early spring, would mount the trees, axe in 

 hand, and cut and slash oif large limbs an 1 small, 

 leading the spurs sticking out from three to six inches 

 long from the trunk, while the tree would be so much 

 relieved from wood that it would take it ten years to 

 get back to where it was at the time of pruning — so 

 that, in the long run, we think the " let alone system " 

 much preferable to the ten years' trimming plan, al- 

 though both plans are what every good reasonable 

 farmer should be ashamed of. 



Now what these old orchards want, is a thorough 

 renovation in the shortest possible time. The first 

 thing to be done is to cut off the old top of the 

 growing trees, and set on a new one by grafting. 

 This can be done best by the common mode of " cleft 

 grafting." Those limbs that are the size of a " hoe- 

 handle," or an inch and a half in diameter, should be 

 selected, as they soon heal over, making the limb 

 sound. The " grafter " should commence on the top 

 of the tree to saw off the limbs, and so work down, 

 taking care to graft every tier of under limbs at a 

 longer distance from the trunk, so that the grafts will 

 have plenty of room to grow and not interfere with 

 each other. To have this work done in a business- 

 like manner requires three hands — one to saw off the 

 limbs ani pare the stocks ; another to set the scions, 

 two in a stock; and the third hand to put on the wax. 

 All old trees that have a good sound trunk, however 

 many dead limbs they may have, should be sawed 

 and grafted. But many old trees require different 

 management. Some, by bad pruning, have grown 

 their old tops up very high. To graft these old tops 

 at such a distance up would be a difficult job; at the 

 same time they would make an unsightly appearance 

 ingrowing. Such trees should be "headed down" 

 — that is, the large limbs sawed oH" at such distance 

 down the tree, that when the new shoots put out 

 they may form a handsome top. These sprouts, if 

 they are of thrifty growth, may be grafted the second 

 season, or " budded," as the case may be. Old, large 

 trees of slow growth should not, in all cases, have 

 their whole top taken off at once, as the shock might 

 kill them. But in these cases the south half of the 

 tree might be taken off first ; then say in two years 

 after, the north half could be treated in the same 

 way, and the tree saved. As to the time of pruning 

 Apple trees, it may be done any time from May to 

 October; but it should be done regularly every year, 

 and then only small limbs will be taken off; but in 

 the case of old, neglected orchards, more or less of 

 large limbs must be removed. About all the tools 

 wanted are a sharp hand-saw, a fine pruning-saw, and 

 a pruning knite. It will be well to have the large 



