1867. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4,47 
Pear Culture on the Connecticut Coast. 
A correspondent fromnear Stoninglon, Conn., 
sends us the following notes upon pears: 
"Stoningtou, Mystic, and other places near 
L. I. Sound, have felt very strongly the recent 
impulse given to fruit-growing, and during the 
last ten years much progress has been made, 
especially in the cultivation of the pear. It is 
rare to find out of the vicinity of Boston so 
many private gardens so well stocked with good 
fruit. The pear does even better near the 
shore than the apple. In no one of the last ten 
years has there been a general failure of the 
crop. It has contributed not a little to the 
success of pear culture thai the old pastures of 
this early settled town arc quite well stocked 
with pear trees. Many seedlings come up in 
b3--places, and these, in many instances, have 
been transplanted, and make the best of stocks 
for grafting. "We have sometimes taken up 
these seedlings, six or eight inches in diameter, 
by the frozen ball method, and by gradually 
grafting them with desirable fruit have got it 
early and in great abundance. 
" The Flemish Beauty, for the early part of the 
period mentioned, was a first-rate variety. The 
trees grew with sufficient rapidity, came early 
into bearing, gave a fair russet pear with a red 
cheek, and it was thought to be one of the best 
for this region. But of late years it cracks so 
badly that the fruit men are quite out of patience 
with it and are grafting it with better sorts. 
Il will have to be abandoned. The Beurre 
Diel cracks to some extent, and is considered 
doubtful. The Duchesse d'Angouleme does 
well on the lighter soils, but is hardly worth 
cultivating in heavy loams. The Bartlett sus- 
tains its well-earned reputation. The Julienne, 
on a dry, warm soil, is a first-rate summer pear, 
bearing regular and abundant crops. The T3-- 
son is superb, beautiful in color, and tastes bet- 
ter than it looks. The Paradise of Autumn is 
of the most exquisite flavor, bears abundantly 
every year, and has this remarkable quality that 
the imperfect specimens are nearly deficient in 
flavor. It is worthy of much more general 
cultivation. The St. Ghislain is also about as 
good as it can be, and bears regular and abund- 
ant crops. It has a very sprightly, vinous, fla- 
vor, that leaves nothing to be desired. The 
Belle Lucrative is an early and abundant bearer 
upon the quince, and good enough -for those 
who like a rich, saccharine fruit. The Musk- 
ingum is perhaps the most popular pear of this 
region. Il comes in about a week or ten days 
earlier than the Bartlett, is nearly as large, is a 
much better fruit, and bears uniformly good 
crops every year. The Vicar of Winkfield, al- 
ways a good baking pear, is here, when well 
grown, good enough for any man's table. We 
have eaten it in January when it was quite 
equal to the White Doyenne. The Blood- 
good is very poor, or we have been exceedingly 
unfortunate in the specimens produced. The 
Dearborn's Seedling improves as the trees get 
age, but at its best estate i< hardly up to its rep- 
utation. The Olou Morceau very generally 
cracks as badly as the While Doyenne. But we 
saw a large basket of them at Mystic, this fall, 
Ihc product of a single tree, worthy of their high- 
est fame. Pear culture lias taken deep root 
here, and will be likely lo spread into orchard 
culture. The. crop is so generally reliable that 
it could not fail to be largely profitable." 
cious treatment, provided the freezing is not very 
severe. The way to complete the w r ork of the 
frost is to bring the plant into a warm room, or, 
still worse, to attempt to thaw it with warm wa- 
ter. Leave it in a cool place where the thaw- 
ing will be very gradual, and where the sun 
will not reach it. Trees frozen in transporta- 
tion are to be treated in a similar manner. 
Place the box or parcel in a dark, cool cellar, 
or, if it be not convenient to do that, cover it 
thickly with straw or coarse hay, or bury it in 
the earth — any way to avoid a sudden change. 
The Papaw. 
The Papaw, {Asimina triloba), called also the 
Custard Apple, is widely distributed over the 
Western and Southern States. Its favorite lo- 
calities are the bottom lands, though it grows 
readily on higher ground, and thousands of the 
young seedlings are seen springing up in the 
fresh clearings. The tree grows to the bight of 
thirty feet, and begins to bear fruit quite early, 
when it may be called a shrub. The fruit is 
three or four inches long, and more resembles 
the fig banana in shape and size than anything 
we are acquainted with. It is less regular in its 
form and more rounded at the ends. It is of a 
greenish-yellow color when ripe, has a thin, 
delicate skin, and a sweetish pulp, in which 
are imbedded a dozen or more seeds, looking 
like thin, brown beans. The engraving rep- 
resents one of the na- 
tural size. The leaf, 
flower and fruit are il- 
lustrated in Jan., 1864, 
page 20. The fruit is 
highly relished by some 
even heard it eulogized 
as the most delicious of all. But to most tastes 
it is lacking in character. It is even more neu- 
tral than fresh ripe figs, which many consider 
insipid. It is abundantly offered for sale, with 
other fall fruits, in the markets of Louisville and 
other Western cities. We occasionally noticed 
trees standing in the yards of that city, and near 
the farm-house3 in Indiana, but we are not 
aware that any systematic attempts have been 
made for its cultivation, or that any departures 
have taken place from the native type of the 
forests. The original fruit is much more prom- 
ising than many of those which have been so 
long cultivated and are now so highly prized. 
If it were taken in hand by the pomologists we 
have no doubt it could be made to break into 
rich and palatable varieties and become as pop- 
ular as the banana, which is now quite as com- 
mon and cheap in the New York market as 
the pear. The tree is as ornamental as the 
cherry, which it somewhat resembles in general 
contour. Though a native of regions lying 
south of forty degrees of North latitude, it 
would probably bear removal aud become accli- 
mated several degrees further north, and keep 
company with the peach and the cherry. Could 
the Horticultural Societies of the Western 
States do better than lo offer a handsome pre- 
mium for the first new variety of the Papaw? 
PAPAW SEED 
persons, and we have 
Frozen Plants. —When plants in pois be- 
come frozen, they may often be saved by judi- 
Constitution of a Horticultural Society. 
Numerous requests have been made tor a 
form of constitution for a Horticultural Society. 
The best, we have seen is that of the Warsaw, 
111., llorl. Society, because it is the briefest. 
We are indebted to Mr. P. Starr for a copy of 
this constitution, lo which we have made some 
slight amendments When a body of live hor- 
ticulturists meet for the promotion of the cause, 
they will, if animated by the right spirit, 
prefer to be troubled with as little constitution 
as possible. There are in every community 
certain individuals who like to belong to soci- 
eties for the opportunity it gives them to show 
their powers in expounding the constitution. 
We have known more than one society broken 
up because it had too strong a constitution. 
Another great trouble in all such societies is 
the everlasting talker, who occupies time, but 
never says anything. The hard work in all 
such associations falls upon a few, and it is 
well to put those in office who have horticul- 
ture at heart, and will work for the»1ove of it. 
Constitution. — Sec. 1. This Association 
shall be known as " Horticultural Society." 
Sec. 2. Its object shall be the advancement of 
the science, of Pomology, and of the art of Hor- 
ticulture, and the collection aud preservation of 
statistics of fruit culture in County. 
Sec. 3. Its members shall consist of annual 
members, paying an annual fee of one dollar, 
and of honorary members, who shall consist 
only of persons of distinguished merit in horti- 
culture or kindred sciences, who may, by vote, 
be invited to participate in the privileges of the 
Society. The wives of members shall be mem- 
bers without fee. Membership shall cease with 
the expiration of the year for which the fee is paid. 
Sec. 4. Its officers shall consist of a Presi- 
dent, Vice-President, and Secretary, who shall 
also act as Treasurer; all of whom shall be 
elected at the December meeting in each year, 
and serve until their successors are elected. 
These shall constitute the Executive Committee. 
Sect. o. The Executive Committee shall have 
charge of the property of the Society, have 
power to call special meetings, and attend to any 
executive business not otherwise provided for in 
the By-Laws or by especial vote of the Society. 
Sec. 6. This Society shall hold monthly 
or other meetings as may be determined by By- 
Laws or resolution. 
Sec. 7. This Constitution may be amended at 
any regular meeting by two-thirds vote of the 
members present, notice having been given at 
the preceding regular meeting. 
Foreign Items. — We glean the following 
notes from our recent French journals : 
Thomless Gooseberry. — The Billiard Goose- 
berry, the fruit of good quality, the bush 
rather a slow grower, but without thorns. 
Japanese Maples, with much divided and 
colored leaves, are figured in rival journal 1 , 
which disagree about names. We have known 
the same things for several years in the collec- 
tion of Mr. James Hogg, of this city, who al- 
ways has some rare Japanese or other planta 
Gamdlia-flowered Double Peach. — This very 
ornamental peach, which we figured two years 
or more ago, frnits quite freely in France, and is 
said to bear a cling-stone peach of good quality. 
Forcing Lilacs. — For the Paris market alone 
Lilacs are forced to bloom in winter by the hun- 
dred thousand. Witli the necessary heal ami 
not much light, the common lilac blooms w hue. ; 
Vhseasonabh Flowering. — Near Lyons, and 
in other parts of France, the unusually drj sen 
son followed by rains, caused the apple, pear, 
and plum trees to flower in great numbers 
77,,' Sweet Potato as a Window Plant. — This 
is recommended as a plant tor the dwelling, on 
account of the fine green of its leaves. We have 
seen il now and then in Use in this country. 
