32 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



seem wasteful of friiit and time but it pays to do it for those left 

 to ripen will be larger and therefore worth more money. There 

 is no trouble in marketing good apples. Satisfactory locations 

 for orchards can be found within twenty-five miles of Boston and 

 even within ten miles, thereby bringing the grower into close 

 touch Avith a market. In the earlier years of an orchard the 

 ground between the trees can be used for the cultivation of veg- 

 etables. 



A half-million barrels of apples were exported from Boston 

 the past season. 



The next important fruit crop in New England is undoubtedly 

 the pear. The pear is a more constant bearer than the apple and 

 comes into bearing more quickly. 



It is of no use to set out dwarf pears in a Ught, dry soil. The 

 quince stock upon which a dwarf is produced requires a strong, 

 moist soil, and where it can be gi'own in a proper location the 

 dwarf varieties produce better fi'uit. It is a custom in planting 

 a pear orchard to set out every other tree a dwarf, twenty feet 

 apart, and after the standards have attained the proper size to 

 cut out the intermediate dwarfs. A dwarf, however, can be 

 readily converted into a standard if found desirable. 



Unfortunately we have too many varieties of pears and, though 

 Marshall P. Wilder forty years ago showed at one of our exhi- 

 bitions 417 varieties and Charles M. Hovey 360, yet the desirable 

 varieties coidd be counted on one's fingers. Fifty years ago the 

 question was asked at one of these meetings, " What is the best 

 variety of pear to grow if only one could be planted ? " Presi- 

 dent Walker said, "the Vicar" and Mr. Wilder agreed with 

 him. Now no one thinks of growing it. 



At present the most desu-able varieties are the Bartlett, Shel- 

 don, Seckel, Bosc, Clairgeau, Dana's Hovey, and Anjou. 



The Anjou I would not recommend so strongly for in recent 

 years it seems more liable to disease. The Dana's Hovey is un- 

 doiibtedly the finest pear, in my opinion. It is a remarkably 

 good pear, a seedling from the Seckel, and comes at a season 

 when there is less competition. It does not appear to be very 

 generally cultivated, but no mistake would be made in growing 

 this pear for home use. It brings the highest price of any pear 



