360 The Pear — Early Fruitfulness Induced. 
These may be stood away anywhere, and introduced, two or three 
at a time, into a warm situation. The writer placed his pots this 
winter in a dark closet, at the back of a kitchen range, and the 
rhubarb grew rapidly. Every house can find some spot having 
the advantage of greater warmth than the ordinary temperature. 
Rhubarb may thus be had at any time, and a good supply kept up 
until it is produced in the open air. It is very necessary to get it 
as early as possible, as its value is much lessened when gooseber- 
ries are plentiful. — Gardener's Chron. 
THE PEAR— EARLY FRUITFULNESS INDUCED. 
During the last fifteen or twenty years, the culture of the pear 
has received more atteniion from pomologists in the principal 
horticultural districts of both Europe and America, than any other 
fruit, and perhaps more, indeed, than all the others united. The 
long years of patient, zealous investigation devoted to this subject 
by the late Dr. Van Mons, of Belgium; Knight, of England, and 
others, as well as the late R. Manning, and others, in our own 
country — have improved and multiplied the number of varieties 
to an astonishing degree — that is, if any thing could be astonish- 
ing in this age of startling progression. We have ourselves seen 
60 varieties exhibited on one table; but this is trifling, consider- 
ing the fact that some American nurseries enumerate 300 sorts in 
their catalogue; and, including Europe and America, there are 
not less, and probably more, than 1,000 varieties now cultivated. 
About the commencement of the present century, the most exten- 
sive catalogues published in France, which then was foremost in 
the culture of the pear, did not exceed 180 or 190 sorts, and most 
of these are now superseded by recent productions. The world 
may now be said to be rich in this delicious fruit, and the great 
subject of inquiry and research at present seems to be, what system 
of culture is the best adapted to spread the benefits of these vast 
improvements amongst the tillers of the soil, — to place them 
within the reach of every man who owns a square rod of earth, 
and that, in the shortest period o/ time? The importance of this 
question has, for several years past, been fully appreciated in 
Europe; and multitudes of experiments have been made by prac- 
tical fruit-growers, with a view to discover a method of inducing 
early fruitfulness, and adapting them to garden culture. 
We have felt a deep interest in this subject. We were aware 
that the great mass of the people of this country were discouraged 
