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THE ILLIlsrOIS FARMER. 



165 



senses more than any other shining sub- 

 stance ? 



The greatest wealth of a nation, or an 

 individual, does not lie in temporal asso- 

 ciation or estate to both nations and in- 

 dividuals, but consists in those elements 

 by which the necessities of human life 

 are most surely satisfied. To the wan- 

 derer famishing in the desert, the great- 

 est treasure would have been food and 

 drink ; he cast pearls aside with disgust, 

 praying they had been dates. The great 

 temporal wants of men and nations are 

 food and raiment, and especially food- — 

 deprive them of these, and all other pos- 

 sessions would be useless. The capacity 

 to supply these wants, in spite of exi- 

 gence, is a wealth and power which gold 

 and silver never possesses. Real capi- 

 tal lies in labor, and labor brought in 

 contact with the earth, in its various 

 capacities, is the creator, as it should be 

 the distributor and enjoyer of the most 

 substantial of all temporal wealth. — Ex. 



Pears, 

 The impression seems to be general 

 that the cultivation of pears in this 

 country, is a failure. In many locations 

 it undoubtedly is so. In others, it is 

 attended with great success. We are of 

 opinion that, when sufficient trials are 

 made, varieties will be found that will 

 succeed in places where, so far, all vari- 

 eties yet tried, have been found to fail. 

 At the recent meeting of the U. S. Po- 

 mological Society, in New York, Presi- 

 dent Wilder, in an able address, made 

 the following statements : 



PROFIT OF PEAR CULTURE. 



But the immediate question under 

 consideration is, " Can pears be grown 

 at a profit ?" We advocate the affirma- 

 tive, premising that the conditions of 

 success to which we have already refer- 

 red must be complied with. This in- 

 quiry has been satisfactorily answered 

 by pomologists, some of whom I am 

 happy to recognize in this assembly, yet 

 the responsive facts and arguments de- 

 serve to be embodied and published un- 

 der the sanction of this National Assem- 

 bly. To a record of these as collated 

 from various authorities, so far as they 

 are confirmed by personal observation 

 and experience, I now invite your at- 

 tention. 



The Fruit Growers' Society of West- 

 ern New York, composed of gentlemen 

 of deserved integrity and celebrity, some 

 of whom are on this floor, and competent 

 to defend their report, furnish the fol- 

 lowing instances from that section of the 

 State. 



Three White Doyenne Pear trees, 

 owned by Mr. Phinney, of Canandaigua, 

 one of them small, produces annually 



fifty to sixty dollars' worth of fine fruit. 



A tree of the same variety, owned by 

 Judge Howell, of same place, seventy 

 years of age, has not failed of a good 

 crop for forty years, averaging for the 

 last twenty years, twenty bushels annu- 

 ally, and sold on the tree at sixty dollars 

 per year. This tree has produced for 

 the New York market three thousand 

 seven hundred and fifty dollars worth of 

 pears. 



Three large trees owned by Judge 

 Taylor, of same kind, yielded in 1854, 

 eleven barrels, and sold for one hundred 

 and thirty-seven dollars. 



A young orchard, owned by Mr. 

 Chapin, of four hundred trees, eight 

 years from planting, which produced in 

 1863, fifteen barrels, selling in New 

 York for four hundred and fifty dollars, 

 and m 1854, fifty barrels, yielding him 

 one thousand dollars. 



Similar results have been realized in 

 the State of Massachusetts. 



William Bacon, of Koxbury, has 

 about one acre devoted to the pear. 

 The oldest trees were planted eighteen 

 yeais since, but more than half within 

 a few years. From two trees, the Dix 

 and Beurre Diel, he has realized more 

 than one hundred dollars a year, and 

 for the whole crop, over one thousand 

 dollars a year. 



John Gordon, of Brighton, has three 

 and one-fourth acres in his pear orchard. 

 This was commenced in 1841, there be- 

 ing only eight trees on the ground. 

 There are now twelve hundred trees, 

 planted in various years, more than one 

 half of which since 1854. The amount 

 received for his crop from that date to 

 the present, has been from five to six 

 hundred dollars a year, but he remarks, 

 " If I had confined myself to a judicious 

 Selection of varieties, it would now 

 bring me two thousand dollars per 

 year." 



Wm. R. Austin, of Dorchester, Trea- 

 surer of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, has an orchard of between five 

 and six hundred pear trees, mostly on 

 the quince root. These trees are about 

 twelve years of age. One hundred are 

 Louise Bonne de Jersey's. They com- 

 menced bearing about three years after 

 planting, and have borne regular crops 

 ever since. They are very healthy, and 

 only eight of the whole number have 

 died since the orchard was commenced. 

 No accounts of the crops were kept until 

 the year 1851, but Mr. Austin's sales 

 for the next six years, amounted to 

 three thousand four hundred and eight 

 dollars. 



The Messrs. Hovey, of Cambridge, 

 have a very large collection of bearing 

 pear trees. From two rows, two hun- 

 dred and ten trees, grafted on the quince 

 the crop has amounted, some years, to 

 twenty-five barrels. 



John Henshaw, of Cambridge, plant- 

 ed about an acre of land principally 

 with pears on the quince. On the fifth 

 year thereafter, he gathered one hun- 

 dred and twenty bushels of pears, seven- 

 ty bushels of which, he sold at five to six 

 dollars per bushel. ^ - 



A Bufi'um pear tree at Worcester, be- 

 longing to Mr. Earle, yields annually 

 from thirty to forty dollars worth of 

 pears. Mr. Pond, of the same city, 

 planted in 1850 three hundred and fifty 

 Bartlett pear trees, one ^ear old from 

 the bud. In 1857 he sold from these 

 trees fifty bushels of pears, at five dol- 

 lars per bushel, or two hundred and fifty 

 dollars for the crop. ■ ■ » 



Similar instances of success, in these 

 and in other States might be multiplied, 

 if time would permit, to prove the age, 

 health, and profit of the pear tree. So 

 deep has the conviction of this truth be- 

 come, and so uniform the success, that 

 instead of planting trees as in former 

 times, by the single tree or the dozen . 

 cultivators now plant orchards of hun 

 dreds and thousands, in firm and reason- 

 able expectation of large income. .'--^ 



Such facts are conclusive, and ought 

 to rectify the false theories which have 

 been advanced on this subject. But it 

 may be objected, that these are instances 

 of success developed by accidental adap- 

 tation of kinds, of soil or climate ; that 

 such results are neither uniform or com- 

 mon ; in a word, that there are counter 

 facts sufficient to justify an opposite 

 conclusion, and therefore to sustain the 

 opinion that pears cannot be made a re 

 liable and profitable crop. 



Planting out Orchardi. 



Editor Farmer : The season has now 

 come for planting out orchards. Can 

 you give me advice in regard to the pro- 

 per soil? On my farm I have black 

 loam, some a little inclined to sand, and 

 some barrens in which there is a largo 

 intermixture of clay. The black soil is 

 on level prairie ; the sandy on ridges ; 

 and the barrens on high land. I know 

 that a great many orchards fail and I 

 want to make a sure shot in setting out 

 a new orchard. Will you give me your 

 opinion on this matter? JfiL 



Will some one of our practical or- 

 chardists answer these enquiries ? 



Editor Farmer : Do you know any- 

 thing about fall oats, where they can be 

 had, and whether they are superior to 

 spring oats for cultivation and profit ? 



We have heard of such oats, but 

 neither know where they can be had or 

 whether they would be profitable for 

 cultivation. ' . : ^:' 



