222 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



mense amount of interesting and practical information, pre- 

 cisely of the character our Western cultivators require, — yet 

 few of them can command the full series of that journal. 

 Cannot you devote sufficient time and labor to the compiling 

 of such articles from that journal, and to them add original 

 matter sufficient to form such an encyclopedia? 



No cultivator better knows the wants of the great West 

 than Dr. Kirtland ; having grown up with its growth and 

 given as much, or more, attention to Horticultural pursuits 

 than any individual west of the Alleghany Mountains. He 

 can therefore truly recount the special wants of the W^estern 

 country, now teeming with its hundreds of thousands of in- 

 habitants, engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and a large 

 class employed in the arts and sciences. With the rapid in- 

 crease of wealth resulting from the produce of its fertile soil, 

 thousands are now able to enjoy the luxuries of the Atlantic 

 towns and cities; but the means to supply them are not at 

 hand, and it is this condition of things which Dr. Kirtland 

 is desirous of seeing changed. We therefore commend his 

 remarks to the attention of industrious and ingenious me- 

 chanics, who wish to enlarge their sphere of action ; they 

 will find abundant opportunity to do so in the West. 



As regards the third special want which the Doctor enu- 

 merates, we cannot well say how soon that will be supplied. 

 We must return our thanks for his pleasant compliments to 

 our own labors, and we hope ere long, if time will allow, to 

 supply those who cannot afford to possess a fall set of our 

 Magazine, with something such a volume as the Doctor sug- 

 gests. — Ed. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SELECT VARIETIES OF PEARS. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



Notwithstanding the introduction of so many varieties of 

 pears within a few years, the number of new and distinct 

 kinds of real value which annually fruit is very limited. 

 Nearly one-half prove to be synonyms of older and well 



