200 THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. [Nov'R 



e-| are not over 25 sorts of pears worth general culture is the opinion ofry 



fyoiir correspondent. c^ 



Orleans, and its vicinity is one vast nursery and fruit garden, em- 

 bracing thousands of acres densely cultivated. You pass from one lit- 

 tle territory to another without knowing it ; the division being a sim- 

 ple narrow track or path. Every foot has its plant, and every tree 

 its crop, cultivated either for the beauty of the plant, or the produce. 

 1 did admire the dexterity of the laborer, with his great Lochaber 

 axe hoe, he cut the weeds and drew the soil to the plant with the 

 same movement — close labor from 4 A. M. to 8 P. M. Weather 

 very dry and hot — they use the watering pot freely under a warm 

 sun, to as late an hour as ten o'clock. They preferred morning wa- 

 tering. 



The banks of the Seine, between Orleans and Nantes, are crop- 

 ped with the grape. The fruiting vines are all planted on dry sandy 

 declivities, at about 3 to 4 feet apart, and trained to stakes not over 5 

 feet high. There are only three sorts principally grown; the white 

 and rose chasselas and the maurillon, a variety of Burgundy ; they 

 have an annual light dressing of manure, heavy manurings they con- 

 sider injurious to the flavor of the fruit and quality of wine. 



The general culture of the country has greatly improved during 

 the past 10 years, the grain crops were clean and well cultivated, and 

 held in small allotments, which was evident by the various patches of 

 wheat, rye, and oats j the vineyards appeared to be under similar 

 tenure. The face of the country is naked and monotonous, except 

 where it is varied with a cathedral or monastery, or some of the 

 many chateaus of the Bourbons. In the south, their favorite orna- 

 mental tree is the Magnolia grandijlora, and it is also subjugated to 

 the unmerciful handling of the knife. Every tree and bush must be 

 pyramidal, and with the present subject it is certainly much out of 

 place, and indeed so it is with the majority of their pear trees, which 

 their decrepid growth and comparative paucity of fruit clearly indi- 

 cates ; I know a Duchess d'Angouleme pear tree, in West Philadel- 

 phia, that never suffers castigation, and returns to its merciful owner 

 four times the quantity of fruit that those trees of half a century 

 seemed to produce. 1 was much interested to know the age of the 

 oldest pear trees, that were on the quince stock, and was gratified to 

 be shown a lot reputed to be 100 years old ; I therefore noted it down 

 that the quince stock did not impair the longevity of the pear. We 

 do decidedly protest t against the unnatural system of pruning the 

 pear, both summer and winter, as adopted by the French — lauded by 

 some of the English, and applauded by a few of the fruit growers of 

 our own continent. We believe that pears and apples can be more 

 profitably grown in this country, than in either England or France, 

 and it is no chimera to predict that Pennsylvania will yet grow more 

 of these fruits than both of the above countries. We have a pecu- 

 liarly constuted climate to enable the earth to make its yearly return 

 to its cultivator. 



Exeter, England, July 12th, 1852. 

 England has been termed a garden, and we now say that Devon- 

 A shire is the garden of England ; where we have taken a few moments 

 /Rto draw breath, after having visited the great horticultural show at 

 fijChiswick Gardens on the 10th inst. 



£&9^_ ^x?Q5A 



