70 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



CULTIYATIOK OF THE PEAR. 



MIDDLESEX SOUTH. 



Prize Essay by Mr. Abel F. Stevens, of Natick. 



The culture of the pear has long been of peculiar interest- 

 The great excellence of the fruit and its nearly continuous 

 season of perfection — some late-keeping varieties nearly 

 meeting the earliest-ripening sorts — and its great beauty as a 

 tree, have always maintained its culture as one of the most 

 refined. Although it is one of the most anciently cultivated 

 trees, — as Ave learn from history that it was known to the 

 Greeks and Romans more than two thousand years ago, and 

 today it is grown in all the temperate climes, — yet its fruit 

 is still scarce in all o^ur markets, compared with other fruits; 

 the finest varieties are seldom seen, so that really fine pears 

 are but little known among the general public. Its value as 

 a domestic fruit is second only to that of the apple. It is 

 one of the most luscious esculents, and as a table-fruit is in- 

 dispensable. A most wonderful improvement has been made 

 in quality, for Pliny speaks of the pears of his time as "hard, 

 astringent crabs," which had to be cooked to be eaten ; but 

 how difierent now ! When these are compared with our own 

 delicious "Seckel," or most of our foreign varieties, they 

 well deserve the epithet of "Beurre," — literally buttery, — for 

 they fairly melt in the mouth. The important place which 

 the pear occupies on the list of our best fruits, demands for 

 it skilful, intelligent cultivation, a practical knowledge of 

 the business. Many have been the articles written on pear- 

 culture, "both lean and lengthy," of fabulous theories that 

 have misled those who have followed them. Our aim in this 

 essay is to be practical in all the principles of successful cult- 

 ure. We have carefully considered the subject, and our ex- 



