24 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



AN" HOtm IN A PEAB OBOHABD. 



E recently had 

 had the plea- 

 sure of visit- 

 ing the Pear 

 orchard of W. 

 Bacox, Esq., 

 of Roxbury, 

 and of fully 

 reaHzing some 

 pi of the marvel- 

 f=^ lous stories we 

 have heard, of 

 pear raising, in re- 

 lation to both trees 

 and fruit. Mr. Bacon was accus- 

 tomed to the farm in liis youth, and cultivated 

 there his natural taste for rural pursuits. He has 

 "an eye for trees," as others have for paintings, 

 or fine animals, or beautiful landscapes, and knows 

 then" names and peculiar habits, as a parent does 

 those of his children. But that "Divinity that 

 shapes our ends," called liim away from the pro- 

 fession which he loved, and placed liim in a dry 

 goods store, where forty years of devotion could 

 not obliterate his early tastes. Galloons and laces, 

 muslins, and Thibets, and collars might bring prof- 

 its to his till, but never could satisfy his desire for 

 the swelling buds, fragrant blossoms and graceful 

 branches of favorite trees. So at the end of more 

 than sixty years, he snatched an hour noAv and 

 then from the counter, raised a piece of land a yard 

 wide, from the salt marsh, di"essed it, planted liis 

 trees, fashioned their limbs to gratify his critical 

 eye, and now, one among them stands the hand- 

 somest DLx pear we ever saw ! Six or eight other 

 trees comprised his first effort. They were plant- 

 ed directly behind his store, which stands on the 

 main street in the city of Roxbury, and vvere placed 

 upon a sort of terrace wliich he threw up from the 

 marsh, and Avliich answered the double purpose of 

 a dike to keep out the returning tides, as well as 

 a bed for the roots of his favorite trees. These 

 eight or nine trees are now each about eight indi- 

 es through, and pay the interest of more money 

 than we dare state in this notice. 



At length the old love got the mastery ; the 

 store and all its interests were abandoned to liis 

 sons, and he went forth into the cheerful light to 

 indulge liis early tastes, and grow young again. 

 lie now entered upon his plans with avidity, by 

 making ditches through the mai'sh, and dildng out 

 the salt water that returned with the flood tides. 

 Wliere paths were to be made, the earth was tlirov.-ii 

 out to the depth of three feet and its place sup- 

 plied with oyster shells. Over this earth was 

 thrown street sAveepings, old mortar, ashes, and 

 all similar rubbish that he could obtain. To this 

 was added large quantities of tan bark, and to this, 



mainly, he imputes the wonderful success he has 

 had in producing his almost unrivalled crops of 

 pears ! Not that the trees find in tliis the princi- 

 pal ahment they require, but that it forms a soft, 

 moist and porous root bed, where the roots can 

 range without obstruction in search of other and 

 richer substances wliich he applies to the soil. 

 The land is so thoroughly di'ained, and so open 

 and Hght, that a fortnight's rain, he saj-s, makes 

 no difference in its appearance. 



The piece of land we went over is sometliing 

 less, we should think, than one acre. On tliis he 

 has six hundred standard pear trees ; that is, trees 

 set in place and not to be removed, though most 

 of them are on quince stocks, — beside large num- 

 bers of young trees which are for sale, and plum 

 and peach trees, currants, gooseberries, raspber- 

 ries, flowers and ornamental shrubs. Between 

 these he manages to raise his potatoes and such 

 other garden stuff as he needs for his table. 



Passing a tree, Mr. B. remarked that it prodiu;ed 

 four bushels of pears tliis season, which he sold for 

 forty-eight dollars ! Another near it a little less, 

 and a Beurre Diel, three years ago, gave him the 

 neat sum oi eighty-two dollars for a single crop ! 



The ground upon wliich all his trees stand, is 

 made ground — redeemed from the salt marsh, first 

 by digging ample ditches, and using the material 

 as far as it would go for filUng up, and following 

 with loam, leaves, street sweepings, weeds, old 

 mortar, decaying chips, and almost all sorts of rub- 

 bish which he could obtain, but, chiefly — he em- 

 phasised — tan hark, wliich he had appHed on tliis 

 small space at the rate of twenty-five cords per 

 year ! He dwelt upon this part of his process with 

 unusual earnestness and gratification. . 



Passing along, we thought if the ditches could 

 talk, they would tell a favorable story. It seemed 

 to us that they partook in some measure of the 

 nature of common sewers, and collected at the 

 hands of the proprietor an abundance of the richest 

 materials both for ti'ees and then' crops. Be this 

 as it may, Mr. Bacon has achieved a success near- 

 er perfection than any tiling else in that direction 

 which we have ever witnessed. That success has 

 been gained, mainly, by three tilings, viz : 



1. Thorough Drainage. 



That the drainage in this case is perfect, is evi- 

 dent from the fact stated by Mr. B., that a fort- 

 night's rain makes no perceptible difference in the 

 appearance of the land. Those who understand 

 the philosophical principles involved in such drain- 

 age, win readily comprehend the advantages gained 

 beside that of the passage of rain water tlirough 

 the soil. 



2. The Depth and Richness of the soil. 



The depth of soil under these trees is not any- 

 where less than tioo feet, and probably varies from 

 that to three feet, and from the surface to bottom, it 



