m fffs PAttM. 



small, sour, gnarly, diseased fruit on the extremities, is the rule. Occasion- 

 ally we find an orchard owned by a man who uses his brains for some useful 

 purpose, and there we find flue trees, with sunshine all around them, with 

 light, open branches, clean and smooth; large, perfect fruit on every twig 

 and branch from top to bottom, far better in quality than his neighbor pro- 

 duces. In the first instance the fruit is diificult to dispose of, and prices are 

 ruinous. The owner is always in debt and always will be. In the other 

 case the fruit finds eager purchasers at remunerative figures. The owner 

 "gets ahead" in the world by using a small modicum of brains with his 

 muscle. 



In raising fruit trees for profit, the following general principles should 

 not be overlooked: 1. Effective drainage; 2. Thorough preparation; 3. Lib- 

 eral fertiUzation; 4. Procuring best varieties; 5. IntelUgent cultivation; and 

 each of these general principles may be sub-divided, and each will afford 

 the owner a theme for constant study. 



That fruit growing, as now practiced, is non-paying, we are ready to 

 admit; that it may be made immensely profitable, we confidently assert. To 

 attain this desired object something must be done besides blindly treading 

 in the footsteps of old ways and expecting nature to perform impossibilities. 



The whole Southern country can be made a vast fruit-field. Any and 

 every man may literally " sit under his own vine and fig tree." Millions can 

 be annually added to our material wealth. There need be no poverty in 

 such a country, and there wiU be none in the near future, when our almost 

 boundless resources are more fully developed. 



Wliat Pears Sliall I Gro-w ? —What is said regarding the gi-owing of 

 apples, pears, field crops, flowers, or any plant or crop having a place in our 

 agricultural or gardening operations, must be said with reference to certain 

 wants, conditions, circumstances, or localities, if the dii-ections would pos- 

 sess any value. No rule suits every case; no crop or plant is applicable to 

 every locality; no advice meets eveiy condition. Still, there are certain 

 well-understood principles which are of value, because embodying the accu- 

 naulated results of the best practice, under varying conditions and cii'cum- 

 stances. 



Now, as regards pears, a farmer or gardener who is to set a number of 

 trees in spring would naturally ask, shall I set Dwarfs or Standards ? To 

 this there might be given several answers, and they would take shape some- 

 thing after this form: For proflt, for permanency, for market purposes, the 

 Standard; for quick returns at the expense of short life, for grounds of small 

 extent, for family uses, the Dwarf. The Standards are long-lived, grow 

 larger, and produce more fruit (one or two varieties excepted) than the 

 Dwarfs. Besides, the trees seem to have the habit of growing wood for 

 future use — a good quality where one is planting for profit and permanency. 

 The Dwarfs, on the other hand, come into bearing young, are well adapted 

 for garden culture, or where a few pears are wanted for family use, but at 

 ten or a dozen years old have seen their best days. 



The tree is most at home in a rather heavy loam, but it must be warm 

 and rich, kept clean and mellow by frequent culture— sometliing the trees 

 deUght in during the growing season. Animal manure, wood ashes, and 

 farm compost are the best fertilizers, and thc-se, as is well understood, 

 should be applied in the fall. The best pear-growers are xinited in the belief 

 that thorough and systematic pruning — not with saw and knife, on the 

 butchering principle, but the pincluag off all surplus young shoots, when 



