54 Notes and Glccniings. 



exclusively for market. The former choose the delicate varieties : the latter 

 ought to select those hardy, uniform, and abundant bearers which certainly exist 

 among us ; but they too frequently adopt the same varieties, which, while yield- 

 ing generously under garden-culture, so frequently disappoint them when chosen 

 for an extensive orchard. A Virginia paper states that a lady at Norfolk has 

 realized ten thousand dollars from thirty acres of pears, but fails to inform us 

 what varieties were planted, and whether this was the result of one crop, or of 

 twenty. Mr. Ouinn, a veteran pomologist, tells us that choice pears command 

 ten to thirty dollars per barrel ; and that, "when the trees are ten years old, the 

 receipts should be not less than two hundred dolla's per acre ; and there will 

 be a steady increase in the returns, under proper management, until the trees 

 are full grown, when the receipts will be at least four hundred dollars per acre, 

 and in many cases much larger." f>om thirty Duchesse d'Angouleme trees, 

 planted ten feet apart in the rows, and now seventeen years old, he has gathered 

 seven crops in eight years, producing nineteen hundred dollars and fifty-five 

 cents. The seventh crop produced seven hundred and five dollars ; being ninety- 

 four bushels, or twenty-three dollars and fifty cents per tree. These trees were 

 originally dwarfs ; but Mr. Ouinn is quite confident thej^iave changed to stand- 

 ards. The crops averaged two hundred and seventy-one dollars and fifty cents 

 per annum for seven years, or say nine dollars per tree annually. 



It may be that few persons could have realized greater results than the accom- 

 plished cultivator referred to, when planting the most reliable description of 

 dwarfs. Yet, even with this very moderate return, Mr. Quinn avers that pear-cul- 

 ture can " be made a safe investment for capital ; " and " that the inducements now 

 oflfered for growing pears for market are greater than they were ten years ago, 

 from the fact that the demand is still greater than the supply, and the prices 

 average higher now than then." But why be content with a variety that aver- 

 ages only nine dollars per annum ? Mr. Quinn declares, that after fourteen 

 years' experience with pears, and with over a hundred varieties, planted on well- 

 prepared soils, he has come to the conclusion, contrary to his former views, that, 

 "with a single exception, the culture of the dwarf in the orchard or garden is a 

 failure ;'" and, "as fact after fact presented itself, I was slow to accept them as 

 conclusive, until it became so apparent, that to hold out any longer would be 

 obstinacy." This is but one of the experiences of many cultivators. These 

 experiences are full of contradictions ; one succeeding, as with grapes, another 

 only half successful, a third failing utterly. With some, the soil is blamed ; and 

 wi^h others, disease of various kinds is alleged to be the cause. More discour- 

 aging than all, there are conflicting opinions as to soil, and no certain remedies 

 against disease. Who shall decide between these endless discrepancies, or who 

 supply the curative that pomologists so ardently desire ? 



There are multitudes of counsellors, but not suflScient wisdom. I am but an 

 amateur, reading much, practising a little, but quietly observing and noting what 

 my neighbors are doing. I learn something from all these unobtrusive occupa- 

 tions ; and this learning sometimes resolves itself into definite theories, starting 

 from a point which few will be disposed to controvert, and ending with demonstra- 

 tions which it would be presumptuous to deny. Last October, I paid my annual 



