PEACH AND THE PEAR. 359 



ANSWERS FROM GROWER, NO. l8. 



My experience in the twenty years of growing pears 

 IS not satisfactory, so far as paying for land and labor 

 goes, but I do not condemn the culture of pears. I 

 think that I selected a flat piece of land, which was not 

 adapted to the healthy growth. I would not be afraid 

 to plant an orchard on your farm Avhere Mr. Hill resides. 



1st. I would plant 999 Bartletts, out of 1000 

 Standard pears, for this locality. 



2d. The Duchess are the best and only dwarfs, so 

 far as my trial goes, that pays. I prefer the Bartlett 

 above all others, because of their good quality for ship- 

 ping, and regular bearing qualities, and if the slug should 

 strike them so as to injure the fruit, you can get some- 

 thing out of them by drying them. They are the only 

 pear that pays to dry. The Duchess are good bearers, 

 and if planted properly, will live to be old trees. I have 

 them twenty years old, looking fresh and in regular 

 bearing, but the fruit is only fit for market in a ripe 

 state ; will not dry. In starting an orchard, a small 

 quantity of ashes around the trees with good cultivation 

 is best. 



3d. The best land is high, well drained, with a 

 little gravel sub- soil. 



4th. I cannot tell how long a standard pear will 

 live, but my orchard is twenty years old, and the 

 Duchess with the Bartletts, are alike vigorous. 



