PEARS AND GRAPES. 55 



of culture so that it will stay solved. The second experience contra- 

 dicts the first, and the third is opposed to both. 



There are, however, some general considerations that are not to be 

 overlooked. A plant, like an animal, lives and grows by what it feeds 

 upon, and can yield compensating returns only when generously fed. 

 The requirements of each tree or vine, in its particular situation and 

 surroundings, should be carefully studied and made the subject of in- 

 telligent experiment. The empirical application of any manurial sub- 

 stance is to be avoided, unless in such a way as will ensure a result 

 meaning something. A great diflSculty is, that when we put a question, 

 we ask it in such a way that nature can not answer it by a simple nega- 

 tive or aflSrmative. She is compelled to use circumlocution, and the 

 answer is valueless if it do not even mislead. The fault in such case 

 is our own, and not hers. Compel her to say yes or no, and the an- 

 swer is at once valuable. It is very common to hear cultivators allege, 

 in cases where one occurrence follows another, that the first must be the 

 cause and the second the effect. If, for instance, a particular tree has 

 not blossomed for some years, and, following an application of some 

 kind during the winter, it shows a full bloom, it is at once concluded 

 that the application was the cause of the blossoming. A very little 

 knowledge of the manner in which fruit buds are formed and matured 

 during the previous season, would prevent the exposure of such igno- 

 rance. It is as ridiculous as was the annually repeated assertion of an old 

 gentleman who was a confirmed invalid, that he had always noticed that 

 if he could manage to live through the month of March, he did not die 

 that year. 



It is very satisfactory to notice, from year to year, the manifest im- 

 provement that is exhibited in our display of fruits. Worthless and 

 inferior varieties gradually disappear, and the collection grows more 

 choice and select. It is getting to be understood that it requires no 

 more labor or skill to produce only the desirable varieties, and in fact 

 less of either, if the less be accompanied by increased knowledge how 

 to begin. 



The writer has often taken the first premium for a display of the largest 

 number of varieties of pears. Although he enjoyed the victory, he 

 would dissuade others from attempting it, and it is doubtful if the so- 

 ciety should encourage it. If any one thing has tended to dishearten 



