Nurseries of Messrs. Hovey 4* Co.^ Cambridge. 445 



The fruit department of this nursery, however, is by far 

 the most interesting and extensive that I have yet seen. It 

 occupies upwards of thirty-six acres, and contains upwards 

 of sixty thousand pear trees alone. Now, as yow are interest- 

 ed in this department of the business, I will describe the dis- 

 position of the ground, and the method of arrangement 

 pursued. 



Ill the first place, the nursery is laid out in angular divis- 

 ions, diverging from a common centre. These divisions 

 are separated from each other by wide walks and avenues, 

 on each side of which is a border some eight or nine feet 

 wide. These borders are planted with specimen trees, in- 

 side of which are the quarters for the nursery stock. These 

 specimen trees are kept for the purpose of proving sorts, and 

 showing the habits and peculiar characters of the trees. I 

 have heard you praise up Rivers's nursery at Sawbridgeworth, 

 and its specimen trees ; but Rivers's nursery is nothing to 

 this. I believe there are above two thousand specimen trees 

 here, many of them now loaded with fruit. I understand 

 the proprietors of this establishment prove all their fruits be- 

 fore they send them out ; a plan which cannot be too much 

 recommended, especially as the majority of nurserymen too 

 often prove their fruit trees at the expense of those who 

 purchase them. 



I observed a number of pears that had been planted out 

 last fall, with goodly crops of fruit on them, of fair size, and 

 of fine appearance. I was not aware that the method of 

 Mr. Rivers was adopted in this country, which I find is the 

 case here, viz., that of keeping fruit trees, especially pears, 

 in a prepared state, i. e., a fit state for removal at almost any 

 age, with a certainty of bearing a crop of fruit the same sea- 

 son. This is effected by lifting the trees every fall, by 

 which they form a large mass of fibrous roots, close to the 

 stem, and thus they may be carried to any distance, with 

 the sure prospect of bearing fruit the following season, if 

 planted in the autumn. I believe this is the only nursery in 

 America where this method is practised. But, in my opin- 

 ion, it is as profitless a method here, as it is in England — 



