The Cultivation of the Pear. Ill 



Mr. Richards, Vice President, was called to the chair, and 

 the President was called upon to open the meeting. 



The President. Mr. Cabot said he did not expect, when 

 he proposed these discussions, to be called upon to speak, but 

 rather wished to be a listener to what was said. He had 

 given his principal attention to proving new varieties of the 

 }3ear, rather than cultivating them in the best manner ; but 

 he intended to do so if he lived. 



As to locations for the pear orchnrJ, he thought a rather 

 sheltered situ.ation best — sloping to the south, with a rich, 

 deep, and rather stiff soil, inclining to clay : his own was al- 

 most a brick-clay soil, and the trees grew finely. The proper 

 distance for trees on the quince, he thought, was twelve feet 

 apart. 



As to manuring, he had not tried many experiments ; ho 

 had used guano, but not in snfhcient quantity to give any 

 decisive opinion as to its results. He would prune only with 

 the knife, taking out only crowded hmbs and shortening in 

 the over vigorous ones. He preferred fall transplanting ; he 

 thought spring planting was injurious from the cause that our 

 springs came forward very rapidly, and the supply of sop was 

 not sufficient to make up for the rapid evaporation of the 

 leaves; while in fall planting, the ground became settled, and 

 the roots ready to strike into the ground the moment the frost 

 disappeared in spring. 



Mr. Breck said he had not much experience, but so far as 

 his practice extended, he could endorse all the President's 

 views. He did not think trees should be so much pruned as 

 they generally are, but rather let alone, allowing the branches 

 to spread out to the ground. He thought rather close plant- 

 ing best, so that one tree sheltered the other. Deep soil was 

 absolutely necessary to raise good pears; a trenched soil, 

 without manure, he thought better than a shallow soil with 

 it. He had used bones and sulphuric acid as an experiment ; 

 thought it very good for pears, though he had made no com- 

 parison of it with other kinds — he had used guano in con- 

 nection with the bones, and with good results. 



Some gentlemen inquired of Mr. Breck the mode in whicli 

 he prepared the bones. 



