Pomological Gossip. 271 



to be cut to a bud pointing outwards and to the right in the 

 following season. By shortening the leader, abundance of 

 side-shoots will be produced. These should be pinched back 

 in the summer ; and further reduced to within two inches of 

 their bases at the winter pruning, and thus they will in a few 

 years become fruit spurs. 



Art. VI. Pomological Gossip. By the Editor. 



The Fruit Crop of 1850. — Never was there such a 

 fine promise of a rich harvest of fruit as in the present sea- 

 son. The peach trees are radiant with their wreaths of rosy 

 blossoms ; the cherries are even bending beneath the weight 

 of their snowy clusters of flowers ; and the pears are tufted 

 with a profusion of their beautiful corols, — gladdening the 

 heart of every lover of this choicest of fruit, in the expecta- 

 tion of the bounteous crop, and anticipating the welcome of 

 some new variety, over whose tender growth he has so 

 anxiously watched, patiently awaiting its mature growth and 

 promised harvest. A rich treat is a morning stroll at this 

 season, through the well-stored fruit garden of the amateur 



cultivator, where 



" Flowers of all hues" 



bedeck the trees, and throw their perfume on the gentle gale. 

 A great fund of information may be garnered up at the pe- 

 riod of blooming. To the pomologist it is especially a season 

 of exciting interest ; to the amateur, one of great gratification ; 

 and to the nurseryman, one of deep importance. How varied 

 are the blossoms of every class of fruits ! Witness the pears. 

 How rich is the Jargonelle, with its immense clusters of very 

 large, beautifully cupped flowers : see that Beurre Diel, equally 

 showy, but yet quite different in general aspect : look again 

 at that Bezi Montigny, whose blossoms are but half the size 

 of the others : and then note the Queen of the Low Countries, 

 whose flowers are of the largest size, but whose petals are 



