PEARS AND GRAPES. 49 



PEARS AND GRAPES. 



It will readily be conceded by all that in fruit culture, the apple is 

 the most important fruit cultivated in the New England States, but as 

 that for several years past has proved a partial failure, much more 

 attention has been given to the cultivation of the pear ; forty years ago 

 three or four pear trees were found in the garden of the wealthy far- 

 mer and frer|uently two of them would be seedlings bearing inferior 

 fruit, but now nearly every mechanic's garden has a larger number in 

 the little plot that surrounds his unpretending cottage, of the choicest 

 kinds. The professional Pomologist now has acres of Pear trees 

 in a single plot ; in the territory embraced l^y the Worcester North 

 Agricultural Society the pear crop the present season, has been abun- 

 dant and of excellent quality, perhaps not surpassed in Worcester 

 County. 



The pear (Pyrus Communis) of botanists, is a near relative of the 

 Prince of American fruits, the apple, (Pyrus Malus,) but like many 

 families, differs in type of character ; the apple is satisfied to live^ 

 thrive a long lifetime on common food, be useful in its day and genera- 

 tion with common attention paid it, while the pear is a gross feeder, on 

 highly-seasoned, nitrogenous food, requiring constant attention to pro- 

 mote its growth and guard it from common enemies and those peculiar 

 to itself. 



The home of the pear was Syria, thence transplanted into Egypt, 

 Greece and Italy, where it was cultivated and the best kinds named 

 after the Emperors, as the Tiberian from the Emperor Tiberius ; the 

 Falernian and more recently, the Eergamot, formerly spelled " Bey,'* 

 a Turkish Governor, and " Armond," a pear ; it is supposed the 

 Romans introduced it into England during their possession of that 

 Island ; the Paradise of Pear propagation for the last two centuries has 

 been Belgium. 



American Pomologists have produced the Seckel, Dix and 

 others^ unsurpassed, and are now rearing seedlings of much promise ; 

 being indigenous to the soil of New England and subject to its varied 

 climate, we may hope for a new era in pear culture among us. 



Probably more money has been worse than lost in this State and 

 especially in "Worcester County in the purchase, and attempts to prop- 

 agate the pear than any other production since the delirious fever of 

 '* Morus Multicaulis." 



In planting a pear orchard the first requisite is to select a soil natu- 

 rally suitable to pear culture, good drainage, in u sheltered location 

 from winds and storms, trenched or subsoiled down to a stiff loam and 

 put into good tilth ; next will be the selection of trees to commence an 

 orchard, and the kinds best suited for home use or an adjacent market, 

 that will ripen from July to the middle of the winter, which experience 



