226 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



from the nursery, and when properly planted they be- 

 come half Standards, and will live much longer than the 

 average life usually given them, which is from fifteen to 

 twenty-five years. Having planted the proper varieties, 

 they suffer less from the ravages of the blight and other 

 diseases than Standards. 



I have now growing on my fruit farms over six 

 thousand pear trees, and only about one thousand of 

 them are Standards, and I would be thoroughly satisfied 

 if the ground they occupied was in Dwarfs, although 

 most of the Standards are past twelve years planted. 

 As to the hybrid trees, they grow very rapidly as 

 Standards and come in bearing very early, and they have 

 not been thoroughly tested on the quince, and as yet, 

 therefore, I should recommend those planting them to 

 plant Standards, at the same time testing them thor- 

 oughly on quince. I refer to the new hybrids from the 

 Japanese Sand Pears. 



THE SHAPES OF PEARS. 



The Massachusetts Horticultural Society's classifi- 

 cation is now generally adopted, and is good, as follows : 



Globular. Ovate. Oblate. Oblong. Globular 

 obtuse pyriform. Globular acute pyriform. Ovate 

 pyriform. Obovate acute pyriform. Obovate obtuse 

 pyriform. Oblong pyriform. Oblong ovate pyriform. 

 Oblong obovate pyriform. 



