22 Ripening the Pear as an Article of Commerce. 



it is a span-roof house, I give you the dimensions : 184 

 feet long, 24 feet wide, 5i feet high at the sides, and 18 

 feet in tlie centre. "^ It will contain in all 106 vines, have 

 a double trellis in all its length, for specimen fruit trees, 

 and then have ample room left for a large collection of 

 plants on the shelves over the flues. It is now about half 

 finished. I was informed, that the spirited proprietor in- 

 tends, during the next summer, to erect a house for Camel- 

 lias, one for Heaths, one for Pelargoniums, and a stove of 

 100 feet for Orchidese, and the general reception of its 

 appropriate inhabitants. If these designs are carried out 

 we may hail it as something entirely new, and as more 

 nearly approaching the public and private establishments 

 of our neighbors over the water. 



Respectfully, yours, &c. 



A Subscriber. 



New York, Nov. Uth, 1843. 



Art. IV. So?7ie hints on the cnUiire of, and the best method 

 of ripening, the Pear as an article of Commerce. By 



S. Walker. 



You will probably recollect that I have, during the pres- 

 ent year, placed upon the table of the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society, many specimens of pears, (var. Vicar of 

 Winkfield,) gathered at intervals of seven days, commenc- 

 ing on the 30th of August and ending on the 5th of October. 

 Those specimens were also shown at the Fair of the New 

 York American Institute. At the request of the corres- 

 ponding secretary of that institution, the subscriber sub- 

 mitted a written communication, containing some of his 

 own views, on the culture of the pear, as an article of com- 

 merce. As that communication was not intended for pub- 

 lication, except so far as it may appear (if it should be 

 deemed worthy of any notice) in the transactions of the 

 Institute, I have thought, if it contains any hint that might 



* The nursery of Horace Gray, Esq., near Newton, near Boston, is 

 200 feet long and 25 feet wide, with a span cuvilinear roof. — Ed. 



