MARCH. 135 



.^GSO. Now pears on quince stocks of such varieties as 

 Duchess of Angouleme and Bartlett, would give us more than 

 that product, I am confident. In reference to the prices 

 here mentioned, as not likely to be realized for winter pears, 

 340 bushels at 150 pears to the bushel — which is few enough, 

 and they have to be large ones with which 150 will fill a 

 bushel — makes 51,000 pears to the acre. These sold at ten 

 cents each — and in New York they sell for a shilling and 

 eighteen pence (12| and IS cents) — gives us $5,100 for a 

 single acre ! " 



Such a statement we might have expected from some 

 quarters, but that our shrewd Rochester cultivators should 

 deal in such extravagancies is really surprising. It has just 

 as much of real truth in it as the above statement respecting 

 the crop of cabbages which amounted to $1,089 the acre. 

 Indeed it exceeds the most wild " Morus multicaulis " state- 

 ments which filled the papers a few years ago. 



If Mr. Hooker had rested his statement upon the calcula- 

 tion that 340 trees on an acre would give a product of $2 to 

 each tree, amounting to $680, it would have been sufficiently 

 inviting to induce hundreds to embark in the cultivation of 

 fruit, as more profitable than any other crop. This result 

 we believe can be achieved after the sixth or eighth year 

 by skilful management under high cultivation, but from this 

 must be deducted the interest of land and trees ; the cost of 

 digging, manuring and pruning ; of gathering and marketing, 

 which might leave a net profit of $400 to the acre. More 

 than this we believe will not be realized, and in a majority 

 of cases not more than half that sum. Will not every care- 

 ful and prudent cultivator be satisfied with such a result ; 

 and can he raise a more profitable crop ? 



The Bergamotte d'Esperin Pear. — In our last num- 

 ber we appended a note to the excellent communication 

 from Mr. Reid of New Jersey, in which this pear was de- 

 scribed, stating that " it was the true Bezi d'Esperin, and 

 not the Bergamotte, which is a different fruit." Our reason 

 for so doing was that he described it as " sometimes a little 

 oblong," which character we never saw among our sped- 



