144 MASSA.CHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



but, of course, will do much better upon good soil. The dis- 

 tance at which the trees should be set, is variously estimated. 

 Ten by ten feet seems to be a good distance to set dwarf 

 trees, which would give about four hundred and thirty trees to 

 an acre. An orchard of five years' growth, ought, at least, to 

 produce a peck of pears to a tree, and at ten years a half bushel 

 to a tree, which, marketed at a fair rate, would yield a much 

 greater profit than an acre set out with apple-trees, or planted 

 with vegetables, and the expense of cultivation and marketing 

 would be no greater. Standard trees should be set out, at least, 

 fifteen by fifteen feet, and while it takes more time for them to 

 grow to a bearing condition, when they do bear, the quantity of 

 fruit obtained is greater than from dwarf trees. 



If a farmer desires to set out a pear orchard, a good way to 

 do is to set standard trees twenty by twenty feet, and then set 

 a dwarf tree between each ; the dwarfs will produce fruit almost 

 immediately, and by the time the standard trees get to bearing, 

 the dwarf trees will have died. Good quality of pears is of 

 very great importance, which can be obtained by good variety 

 and cultivation ; the trees should be set iif good soil, and the 

 soil should be enriched every year ; the trees should be well 

 trimmed, the ends of the branches should be cut back every 

 year, and the trees should not be overloaded with fruit ; this is 

 the most important of all, as nothing so much injures the flavor 

 qf the pear as overbearing. Instead of propping up the tree 

 and tying up the branches to stakes, thin out the fruit until 

 the tree holds up its own branches, and the fruit that remains 

 will be much larger, better flavored, and will bring a greater 

 .price, and the trees will not be jnjured. 



Complaint is often made that a pear-tree, after having borne 

 very full a few times, ceases to bear, and no doubt the reason 

 was that it was overloaded with fruit, and the tree was injured. 

 To obtain good crops of pears, enrich the soil, cut back the 

 branches every year, and thin out the fruit. The show of pears 

 at our exhibition this year was excellent, and it shows that the 

 farmers and others of our society, are giving attention to the 

 subject of pear culture. Your committee recommend that more 

 premiums should be offered in this department, as the com- 

 mittee found the sum of money at their disposal too small to 

 recognize the claims of many exhibitors whose excellent speci- 



