i$6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 321. 



Cultural Department. 



Winter Pears. 



DURING the past winter I had Anjou pears until February 

 in fine condition, though never before later than the 

 first of January. The excellent qualities of this pear place it 

 in the very front rank, and its power to last until midwinter 

 is a strong point in its favor. 



Kieffer, which is generally considered and marked as an Oc- 

 tober and November pear, is really a January pear. I imagine 

 much of the prejudice against it has arisen from the effort to 

 eat it when it first turns bright yellow, which is in October or 

 November. But if carefully stored in a dark cool cellar where 

 there is a slight moisture the Kieffer is one of the best holiday 

 pears. 



The Reeder, or Dr. Reeder, is another good winter pear. 

 I do not find it equal to the catalogue description — "a de- 

 licious pear for amateurs' use " ; but it keeps well until 

 nearly midwinter, and is a good dessert fruit. The tree has a 

 habit of bearing early and heavily, and it will, therefore, be 

 appreciated by those in haste to get fruit. A tree seven feet 

 high on my lawn was loaded with fruit, and yet made a good 

 new growth of wood. 



The Winter Nelis is known to all Pear-growers. While its 

 appearance is far from attractive, it is really a fine late keeper. 

 It requires good storage, when December will bring it to 

 perfection. * 



Lawrence, for an early winter pear, is unsurpassed for those 

 who choose sweet fruit. The chief trouble with it is bearing 

 too early and too much. To get excellent fruit you must thin 

 out severely in summer, otherwise one-third of the crop will 

 never have any flavor. This third will, in fact, lie in your bins 

 without ripening until it is decayed. For this reason the Law- 

 rence often disappoints purchasers, for a certain proportion of 

 them is never eatable. They are just as worthless for cook- 

 ing. I think the Reeder on large trees must also require very 

 sharp thinning. 



Clairgeau is hardly a winter pear, although it will keep 

 well till about the first of December. It is a magnificent pear 

 in appearance, weighing sometimes nearly a pound by the 

 basketful, and is so brilliant in color that it always satisfies 

 the eye, at least. But after twenty-five years' experience with 

 it I cannot recommend it for general planting. If stored until 

 the bright crimson cheek becomes delightful to look at, the 

 least handling will cause the fruit to blacken. It is not often of 

 the best quality for eating. 



Josephine is a pear that keeps all winter, but I have not 

 fruited it often enough to make sure that its quality is quite all 

 that has been claimed for it. It bears on young trees in clus- 

 ters. In appearance it is something like a small Anjou. 



The Beurre d'Aremberg is not quite a satisfactory tree for 

 crops, but I cannot overcome a strong desire for this pear in 

 March. It is quite tart, but to my taste an admirable pear. It 

 is verv juicy and of good size. Its shy bearing does not adapt 

 it to become a market fruit. 



The secret of success with winter pears is leaving them on 

 the trees rather late, or until sharp frosts, and then storing 

 them in very cool cellars near the floor. I cover my bins 

 with papers laid over thickly. The handling should be perfect, 

 and the assorting done with great care. I regret to find that 

 nearly all of our winter pears are sent to market very carelessly, 

 and prematurely picked and ripened. They really are not ripe. 

 Dropped and shaken pears should, of course, be placed in 

 separate bins. It is a fruit worthy of greatest care. In case, 

 however, October is unusually warm, I have found it neces- 

 sary to pick my pears earlier and get them into cool storage. 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



Methods of Setting Out Fruit-trees. 



THE perennial tale, about the two men employed in planting 

 an orchard, one of whom planted ninety-five trees in a 

 day, and the other but five, of which all throve, while the 

 others all failed, no doubt contains an instructive suggestion ; 

 and yet I have seen it the cause of a great deal of that waste 

 of time wdiich is a waste of money. I think it quite safe to 

 say that there is no need of using up a day in setting out five 

 trees of ordinary nursery size in any soil suitable for an 

 orchard. 



In the first place, it is a great mistake to dig a very large 

 and deep hole for such a tree ; and a greater mistake to waste 

 time and money in mixing manurial substances, and especially 

 animal manure, with the earth to be replaced about the tree. 

 No experienced fruit-grower would think of starting an orchard 



upon a barren and poverty-stricken field. No money can be 

 made in planting fruit-trees upon naturally poor or otherwise 

 unsuitable land. If a naturally good soil, but somewhat worn, 

 is chosen, the first thing to be done is to get it into good con- 

 dition before planting any trees. In the selection of land for 

 this purpose I know of no better rule than to take land such 

 as originally bore a vigorous growth of native deciduous 

 forest-trees. Where these throve, there is no good reason 

 why any of our tree-fruits should fail. It is true that there is a 

 difference between a light and a heavy soil in regard to their 

 adaptation to particular kinds of tree-fruits, and heed must be 

 given to this fact. Good orchards are grown upon somewhat 

 heavy soils, provided there be good natural or artificial drain- 

 age ; but a medium soil is best. 



If there is good drainage and a proper soil there is no use in 

 digging the holes any broader or deeper than will enable the 

 planter to place every root of the young tree in a natural posi- 

 tion, and at the same depth at which it grew in the nursery. 

 The true secrets of success are to have vigorous, well-formed 

 young trees, carefully dug, with abundant length of unman- 

 gled roots, and to set them firmly, working in the soil solidly 

 against and about every root, applying no manure, and using 

 no water. The best instrument for this purpose is the hand. 

 Increasing experience has taught me that it is wise to lean 

 the young trees about twelve degrees from the perpendicular 

 toward the prevailing summer winds, the winds that blow 

 strongest while the trees are in leaf. All mangled or bruised 

 ends of roots I cut smooth, with an under cut. The roots 

 should all slope downward. In suitable land, free from large 

 stones, one capable man can dig at least forty holes suitable 

 for three or four year-old nursery-trees, and two men, or a 

 man and a boy, can set the trees well, all in a single day. 



Newport, Vt. T. H. HoskillS.- 



Winter Protection of Half-hardy Plants. 



DURING recent winters I have been studying the best 

 methods for protecting half-hardy plants, and am satisfied 

 that many species of plants might be carried over in the open 

 ground with careful protection, even in climates more severe 

 than ours. A large number of plants and roots will endure 

 severe cold if they are kept dry, that would be destroyed by 

 moisture. A water-proof cover is, therefore, sometimes 

 necessary. 



The stumps of Rose Geraniums are generally carried over 

 with a simple mulch of Pine-leaves, and as the plants get old 

 and woody at the base this protection is sufficient for ordinary 

 winters in this latitude. But the exceptionally severe January 

 of 1893 showed that this sort of covering is not always adequate. 

 Even in that extreme weather, however, when the temperature 

 was almost at zero, Erythrina crista Galli wintered safely under 

 a mound of sawdust, a material which water penetrates very 

 slowly, while another plant under a mound of soil much 

 deeper was entirely destroyed. During the past winter we 

 have had cuttings of Cassava buried and covered with Pine- 

 leaves. Over this cover was placed a water-proof paper hay- 

 cap. The Cassava has come through in fine condition for 

 planting, and I am certain that it would have done so had the 

 winter been even more severe. Some small Fig-trees were 

 bent to the ground and covered with soil, as I formerly did in 

 Maryland, but the cover was too close and warm for this mild 

 winter, and many of the stems rotted. The stems and limbs 

 of other Fig-trees were thatched tightly with broom-sedge, and 

 these came through in splendid condition. But with plants 

 that lose their leaves, like the Fig, in this climate, the past 

 winter was a bad one to test any protection, for the check 

 trees, left fully exposed, are better off than any of. the pro- 

 tected ones. Had the winter been severe like the preceding 

 one the buried Figs would have wintered better than those 

 unprotected. Oleanders that had only a few green pine- 

 boughs around them in the winter of 1892-93 were then killed 

 to the ground. These plants were also thatched with broom- 

 sedge during the past winter, and have come out green, but it 

 must be added that Oleanders in sheltered places without 

 cover have lost only their tender tips. 



Of bulbous plants the more tender varieties of Narcissus are 

 more liable to injury here than northward if planted in fall, 

 as they start an untimely growth. If the planting is deferred 

 until Christmas or January they do finely. Polyanthus Nar- 

 cissus planted last fall, or, rather, allowed to remain from last 

 winter's planting, had their flowers cut down by the cold late 

 in February. Some planted in the fall of 1892 were entirely 

 destroyed by the January cold of 1S93, while others not set 

 until the freeze was over gave a fine bloom and made good 

 bulbs. Caladium esculentum, under a paper hay-cap, came 



