The Vtzar of Winkfield Pear. 367 



est that the tobacco grower cultivates his tobacco, we shall have apples 

 as surely as we have fine crops of tobacco. 



The concentration of orchards tends to, and does, concentrate insect 

 and other enemies ; these we have got to study and fight, as " eternal 

 vigilance is the price of good apples." The canker-worm has, for 

 several years, greatly injui^ed the apple trees in Hartford and vicinity ; 

 this insect is less troublesome away from the city, on the east side of the 

 river. In Hartford and across the river, in passing along, I have noticed 

 that orchards looked as if fire had run through them ; one orchard in 

 particular, in the scvith part of the city, I saw, where the trees stood so 

 as to cover the ground, and, from a distance, not a green, fresh leaf 

 could be seen. 



On the €ast side, away from the vicinity of Hartford, the pests of the 

 orchard consist of the caterpillar or bag worm ( Clisiocampa A?7ieri- 

 cana) ; the Curculio {^Rhynchcenus Nenuphar); the borer {^Saperda 

 bzvitiata)^ and the apple-worm {^Carpocapsa Pomonella^ ^ and a few of 

 the apple'maggot. These, with a little attention, if acted upon in con- 

 cert, might be effectually cleared out ; but without concerted action it is 

 impossible to be wholly rid of them, although their ravages in particular 

 orchards may be greatly checked. 



THE VICAR OF WINKFIELD FEAR. 



By D. W. LoTHROP, West Medford, Mass. 



This pear is known to the most of cultivators ; but few, I think, know 

 how good it is. Taking it in all its characteristics, not many pears 

 have been so much condemned or so much praised ; praised by those 

 who have had patience with it, and condemned by those who have not 

 known how to treat it, or whose soil is not favorable for its proper ma- 

 turity before hard frosts set in. Some have discarded it ; others have 

 thought it — considered in all its relations — though not the very best, 

 one of the most profitable winter pears for the table. It has long been 

 in the gardens, and every one has something to say of it. 



At the meeting of the American Pomological Society in 1867, the 

 following comments are reported on it : " Dr. Claggett said it was 

 worthless ; Husmann, that it was poor as a turnip ; Heaver, the best 

 winter pear he had. Dr. Warder said it was an excellent baking pear, 



