78 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MAKai 



corn worth 31 cents per bushel fed raw, was 

 worth 48 cents per bushel, ground and cooked. 

 Oliver P. Mead. 

 Middlehury, Vt., Jan., 1863. 



Remarks. — Nothing in the way of flesh as 

 food looks more inviting to us than a hog that 

 has been skilfully dressed, — and we cannot join 

 our correspondent in the opinion that swine's 

 flesh is unwholesome, when reasonably used. To 

 most persons, a well cooked sparerib is as wel- 

 come as any flesh that is brought upon the table ; 

 but it is so delicious that we are quite apt to eat 

 too much, and charge the consequences to the un- 

 wholesomeness of the meat. We know of noth- 

 ing that will go so far and so Avell in the farmer's 

 family as a good hog, properly dressed and taken 

 care of. Scarcely a dinner, all through the sum- 

 mer months, can be suitably provided without its 

 aid in one form or another. If all would cook 

 properly and eat sparingly, less complaint would 

 be heard that pork is unhealthy. 



For the Neio England Farmer. 

 THE CUTiTUKE OF PEARS. 

 THEIR ORIGIN AND IMPROVEMENT. 



The pear is a native of Europe and Asia. It 

 was known to the ancient Romans, as Virgil and 

 PJiny expressly mention it, but it was quite in- 

 ferior to our modern pears. Some English writ- 

 ers, however, claim that it originated in the Brit- 

 ish Isles, but it is probable that national pride, 

 rather than the facts in the case, had some influ- 

 ence in setting up this claim. Like many other 

 very valuable fruits, pears were originally small, 

 knarly and bitter. Pliny says, " They are heavy 

 meat, unless baked or boiled." From a mere 

 cJioke pear, they have been made rich, melting, 

 and delicious, by science and art. They are al- 

 ready among the finest fruits we have upon our 

 tables, and improvements are still being made in 

 this important article of dessert by more intelli- 

 gent and scientific cultivation. The finest pears 

 the world has yet seen are cultivated in Belgium 

 and France, and the Northern and Middle States 

 of this country are not much behind in the pro- 

 duction of this luxury. Van Muns, of Belgium, is 

 the Nestor of the pear culture. Whatever i)rcten- 

 sions Great Britain may set up to the origin of the 

 pear, she can certainly prefer no great claims to 

 superiority in the qnalitu of the article she raises. 

 Like the apple and many other fruits which come 

 to great perfection in this country, those raised in 

 Great Britain are confessedly of quite inferior fla- 

 vor, although they are raised, like gra])es, against 

 walls which are built expressly for the purpose, 

 and at great ex])ense. Indeed, the extreme hu- 

 midity of the British Islands is a serious obstacle 

 to the ripening of any of the more delicate vege- 

 tables, and this fact, doubtless, occasioned the sar- 

 casm of a French writer, Avho says that " no fruit 

 comes to maturity in England but baked apples." 



Within the last twenty-five years, astonishing 

 improvements have been made in this country in 

 the cultivation of pears. Most of us can probably 

 recollect the time when but few farmers had more 



than two or three pear trees on then* farms, and 

 those received but little attention, and bore but 

 indifferent fruit ; and, indeed, this is too true of 

 very many farmers at the present day. Others 

 have made very commendable improvements, and 

 nothing is now more common than to see the 

 ])remises of professional men, business men, me- 

 chanics, and the more intelligent farming popula- 

 tion, well stocked with the choicest kinds of pears. 

 This is especially true in the vicinity of our cities 

 and large towns, and it should be the fact through- 

 out a countiT so eminently adapted to the cultiva- 

 tion of this important fruit. 



WHAT ARE THE BEST KIND OF PEARS? 

 More than 1,200 different varieties of pears 

 have been cultivated in Europe, and more than 

 800 foreign varieties have been tried in this coun- 

 try, besides many others which originated here. 

 Col. Wilder, of Dorchester, had 320 different 

 kinds of pears at the late Pomological Exhibition 

 in Boston. Not more than 30 or 40 of all these 

 varieties, however, are worthy the attention of 

 farmers and common gardeners. Amateurs are 

 doing the world good service by increasing the 

 number of pears, experimenting upon their differ- 

 ent qualities, and thus determining what kinds are 

 best adapted to general cultivation, and farmers 

 can avail themselves of the results of their labors 

 without going through all these long and toilsome 

 processes at their own exjiense. Farmers should 

 select only the best varieties, and they should be 

 those which will produce a regular succession of 

 fruit from the beginning to the end of the pear 

 season. With my limited observation and expe- 

 rience upon the subject, I should say that the fol- 

 lowing kinds ought to be cultivated, and I name 

 them somewhat in the order of their ripening : 



SUMMER PEARS. 

 Madeleine, Rostiezer, Tyson, Dearborn's Seed- 

 ling. 



FALL PEARS. 

 Bartlett, Gansel's, Bergamot, Flemish Beauty, 

 Andrews', Beurre Bosc, Seckel, Louise Bonne de 

 Jersey, Buflum, Swan's Orange, Beurre de Anjou, 

 Urbaniste, Dix, Duchesse D'Angouleme, Belle 

 Lucrative. 



WINTER PEARS. 



Beurre D'Aremberg, Lawrence, Winter Nelis, 

 GloUt Morceau, Beurre Diel, Easter Beurre, Vicar 

 of Winkfield. 25 in all. 



I have nearly all these varieties, and some 

 others, in cultivation, and most of them in a bear- 

 ing state, and from some knowledge of their 

 qualities, believe them to be worthy of general 

 cultivation. I examined, with considerable care, 

 all the pears which were presented at the late 

 Pomologicnl and Horticultural Exhibition in Bos- 

 ton, and with pencil in hand, took down the 

 names of those which are not in my present col- 

 lection, and which, from their apparently unusual 

 qualities, I thought it desirable to obtain. I find 

 by recurring to my memorandum that I had noted 

 down the following, -which I intend to procure 

 next spring : Beurre Montgeren, Rousselet, Royal 

 of Pampilius, Sanguine De Belgique, Grosse Ca- 

 lebasse, Moore's Pound, Beurre De Clairgeau, 

 Dunmore, and Queen of the Low Countries. 



Which of the kinds now recommended should 

 be upon quince, and which on pear stocks ? This 



