1861. 



THE ILLmOIS FAKMEE. 



265 



the shade delaying them some two weeks. We 

 have never seen so fine a show of this fruit, and 

 even here on the lake shore shade appears to be 

 of value to them. 



THE HOUSE GROUNDS, 



Proper, ocfupy about five acres, and while they 

 are most attractive to the eye they are also use- 

 ful, and return to the owner several hundred dcl- 

 lars of s lid caph, annually. The fault with our 

 landscape grounds is the Intensely ornamental, 

 ignoring the us-eful, giving us leaf and flower, 

 but we have yet to leorn that a Siberian crab is 

 less vaUiable if after the spring clothes it i 

 gorgeous florR,^ beauty and the summer robes it 

 in riche^t verdure that the autumn may not 

 drape its branches in claslers of valuable frnit. 

 We like tliis comnnngling of *he ornamental and 

 the useful, and we would not have them sepa- 

 rated and a hedge set between them. To those 

 about to plant extensive grounds we commend 

 those of Mr. D. to their consideration. 



EVERGREEN SEEDLINGS. 



Mr. D. has been very successful in growing the 

 evergreen seedling. The beds are n ade of sand 

 and s! aded with frames of lath four feet square, 

 the opening tieing about half an inch, using inch 

 wide lath. These frames rest on stakes about 

 eight inches high, allowing the wind free access 

 under tiiem, after they are up and out of the way 

 of the cedar bird, who is very fond of them while 

 young ; it keeps bim out ; boards are put to the 

 sides of the beds until about the middle of June. 

 It will be recollected that Messrs. & M. failed 

 to grow seedlings on c nimon prairie soil, aiid 

 we believe ofl'ers have had indifferent success ; 

 this has been the cafe with us. We see no rea- 

 son why we m,iv not succeed with the use of same 

 as Will as Mr. D. Although a long diouth has 

 effected many other plants, yet those seedlings 

 do not appear to suffer in the least, although 

 they have not been watered at all. 



PEAK SEEDLINGS. 



( 

 In these Mr. D has not been as successful as 



he desired. He -owed a large quantity of im- 

 ported seed, all of which came up well, but in a 

 part of the grounds a lib ral supply of manure 

 was used, and the white grub has destroyed them 

 by the thousands. In the unmHUured ground 

 the statid is g<'t.>d, and the plants are very f rm. 

 Pear seed should be sown on virgin soil deeply 

 Bubsoiled aua thoroughly pulverized. 



DWARF PEAK OiC AD. 



The dwarf pear orchard numbers some one 

 thousand trees, four hundred of which are in 

 bearing. The leading and most profit.'ble varie- 

 ties are : Bartlett, Louise Bonne de .Jersey, Seck« 

 el, Glout Morceau, White Doyenne, Swan's Or- 

 ange, Madeline, Stevens' Gennessee, and Winter 

 Nelis. 



The truth is, that one-half of the dwarf pear 

 trees m this State are of no value, and never will 

 be, for the simple reason that the varifties are 

 not adapted to the soil and climate. We hope 

 planters will take lessons from substantial facts, 

 and in making out orders for trees, will order 

 what th.y want. It is better to pay a hundred 

 dollars for a hundred trees that will bear good 

 crops of fruit than to take a medley of varieties, 

 two thirds of which may prove worthless, even if 

 they are purchased at half price. So far as our 

 observation extends there are a few v rieties 

 that prove hardy and reliable bearers, while the 

 great number of varities are to us worthless. — 

 These varieties appear, with limited exceptions, 

 equally valuable in all parts of the Sta'e, and of 

 which we shall hav. further occasion to speak. 



THE STANDABD TEAR ORCHARD, 



Among standard pears the f'lemish Beauty is 

 esteemed by Mr. D. the btst of all, aiid right 

 well does it maintain this churacer. Tiee bat 

 half a dozen years set producing five bushels of 

 frut each. They appear to vie with the Keswick 

 Codlin in early and abundant ci ops. The stand- 

 ard orchard entered for the premium ccutains 

 one hundred and fifty trees set ten feet each way, 

 and treated as dwarfs. They consist of Bartlett, 

 Flemish Beauty and White Doyenne, these latter 

 having the tops regrafted to the flemisS; Beauty. 

 1 he trees have been four years set and have 

 made a remarkable growth. There can be no 

 question that this style of growing pears is the 

 true one, though the distance apart is doubtless 

 too small. They would be read ly taken for vig- 

 orous growing dwarfs. The soil is a rathtr stiff 

 clay loam, thoroughly underdiaim d, which is the 

 case with a large part of Mr D.'s grounds. The 

 orchard is planted to theLowion blickberry, now 

 in the second year, and well loaded with fruit. — 

 At present these fruits agree pretty well, but in 

 three or four years we suspect the pear trees will 

 require all the space. It wiil be seen that Mr. 

 D. I as selected but two varieties for bis stfindard 

 orchard, having by regrafting the White Doyenne 

 placed that variety out of the list. There ean 



