THE SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
185 
lind— but, thanks to the men of ’7G. no such 
hardship need befall anyone in this country — 
clergymen or laymen. We place our advice on 
thr ground of the exceeding great usefulness of 
the apple, on the table, in the kitchen, as an a - 
ticle of food for cows, horses and hogs, and as 
an article of commerce. 
PEARS. 
Formerly, the Pear was not very highly es- 
teemed. In its wild state it is extremely austen : 
and even the pear which has been removed 
only one step from savagedom— the choke pear 
— considered by many as the type of this sort of 
fruit, lays held of the m.outh and throat with a 
grip rather more severe than a green persimmon. 
And besides, the late bearing of most of the com- 
mon sorts had given rise to the saying : — 
*• ITe that plants pears, 
Plants for his heirs.” 
But within the last sixty years, through the ex- 
ertions of Van Moxs, Kxisht, and others, the 
pear has been so greatly improved, in all respects, 
as to be styled the queen of fruits in temperate 
latitudes. Van Hons devoted the whole of his 
life to the improvement of the pear; and, from 
60,000 seedlings which he raised, he got a num- 
ber of varieties of high e.xce]lenca. Hr. Knight, 
by crossing, has added many others to the list of 
fine sorts; and some of the very best are the pro- 
duction of nature, having been found growing in 
hedges and meadows. In all, there are between 
SOOand 1,000 sorts that are esteemed good. But of 
all these, only about twenty are really first-rate. 
The best soil for the pear is a strong loam, of 
moderate depth, on a dry subsoil. 
If trees are wanted for an orchard, those graft- 
ed on pear stocks should be procured — for the 
garden, those on quince stocks should be prefer- 
ed, as they make dwarfs, and come into bearing 
very soon. We have had trees on quince stocks 
to bear when only about three feet high — and 
large crops have grown on those that were only 
about ten feet. In the orchard plant 30 feet apart 
—in the garden plant dwarfs, if Q,uenouille train- 
ing is intended, 6 feet ; otherwise, 10 feet apart. 
In gathering pears, it should be always remem- 
bered that most varieties are much finer in flavur, 
if picked from the tree, and ripened in the house. 
There are many varieties, Hr. Downing says, 
that are only second or third rate, when ripened 
on the tree, but have the highest and richest fla- 
vor if gathered at the proper time and allowed to 
become mellow in the house. Winter pears, 
however, require a somewhat different treat- 
ment. They should be allowed to hang on the 
tree till the nights become frosty, and when ga- 
thered they should be wrapped sepaiately in pa- 
per. packed in barrels, and put away in a cool 
room, until within about two weeks of the time 
when they usually beome mellow, then be 
brought into a warm room and be there allowed 
to mature perfectly. 
Class I. — Summer Pears. 
Bloodgocd, 
'Bartleit, or Williams’ Bon 
Chretien, 
"Dearborn’s Seedling, 
Green Chisel, 
'"Jargonelle, 
Julienne, 
"Madeleine, 
"Ronsselet de Bheims, 
‘Summer Franc Real. 
Class II. — Autumn Pears. 
Andrews, 
Althorpe Crassanne, 
Belle el Bonne, 
Beurre de Capianmont. 
'Beurre Brown, 
’Benrre Bose, 
'Beurre Diel, 
Bergamot, Gansel’s, 
‘Frederic de Wurlemburj 
‘Golden Beurre ot Bilboa. 
Heathcot, 
Bacon’s Incomparable, 
‘Louise Bonne de Jeisey, 
‘Marie Louise, 
Napoleon, 
‘St. Ghislain, 
Stevens’ Genesee, 
Seckel, 
‘Surpasse .Marie Louise, 
'Surpasse Virgaleau. 
Vail Mens Leon de Clerc, 
‘ Washineton. 
. ‘Jaminelle, nr Josephine, 
Louise Bonne, 
‘Passe Colmar. 
Vicar of Winkfield, or Cli- 
on, 
‘Winter Nelis. 
Cnshiiig, 
‘Dix, 
‘Uonchesse d’Angnuleme, 
‘Doyenne, White, or St 
Michaels, 
Flemish Beauty, 
Class III. — Winter Pears. 
Beurre d’.Aiemberg, 
Beurie Ranz, 
‘Black Worcester, 
Bon Chretien Spanish, 
Columbia, 
‘Chauinonlel, 
‘Glout Morceau, 
Those pears in the preceding list marked 
thus (*) have bon.e fruit in our grounds, and 
they fully sustain here the character given to them 
by Hanning, Kenbick, Downing and others. 
And in this list are included those that are es- 
teemed to be the verv best in Europe and the U. 
States. They can all be purchased in Northern 
nurseries, at from 25 to 100 cents per tree, and 
can be safely sent to any part of the country. 
PEACHES. 
As we remarked on a former occasion, this 
fruit has been so much neglected in the South- 
ern States as to have become comparatively 
worthless. Even the brandy that is made ot it, 
compared with tvhat was made thirty years 
ago, is often little better than blue ruin or cockle- 
burr whiskey. It is, in reality, slowly falling 
back into its original poisonous character. No 
one who has tasted ’he fine sorts grown in New 
Jersey and Delaware, can ever afterwards rdish 
the miserable trash that is too often allowed to 
grow in Southern orchards. Even as food for 
hogs, it would be for every one’s interest to get 
good sorts and cultivate them carefully. 
Every body knows the kind of soil the peach 
tree grows best in— and every one knows that no 
tree is more easily propagated. From the stone 
in one year, trees may be raised large enough for 
budding. And every one may learn, in five mi- 
nutes, how to bud a peach tree, either from the 
books or from one who understands the process. 
Get good kinds and go to work, and in three 
years orchards may be had to any extent, that 
will be worth something. We add a list of kinds, 
about the high qualities of which there is no dis- 
pute. To praise them would be to “ gild refined 
gold.” But unless they are properly taken care 
of, it wnll be all labor thrown away. The ground 
should be plowed and kept clean, and the trees 
carefully pruned every year according to the 
system of shortening-in, that is, cutting off, in 
January, half the last year’s growth over the 
v/hole outside of the tree, and also upon the in- 
ner branches, cutting always close to a leaf-bad ; 
the object of this pruning being to diminish the 
crop o.ie-half, make every peach double the 
usual size, and of superior flavor, and furnish a 
large supply of s trong bearing wood for next year. 
Commercial gardeners usually sell peachtrees 
at about 25 cents each. Those marked (*) we 
have tried, and know to be good 
Class T. — Freestone Peaches with pale Jlesh. 
‘Bellegarde or Red Magda- Late Admiiable, 
len, * . . _ . _ 
Brevoort’s Seedling Mel- 
ter, 
‘Belle de Vitry, 
Early York, 
Early Newington, 
‘Early Admirable, 
George the Fourth, 
'Grosse Mignonne, 
Class II. — Freestone Peaches with deep yellow 
Jlcsh. 
Abricotee, or Yellow Ad-: Crawford’s Late Maloco- 
‘Morris’ Red Rareripe, 
‘Morris’ White do., 
‘Moirisaiiia Pound, 
Malta, 
‘Noblesse, 
Oldmixon, 
Roy,al George, 
‘Red Rareripe, 
'Snow, or White Blossom. 
mirable, 
‘Crawford’s Early Maloco- 
ton, 
‘Columbia, or Pace, 
ton, 
‘Red Cheek Malocofon, 
Yellow Alberge, 
Yellow Rareripe. 
Class III. — Paries, or Clingstone Peaches. 
‘Blood Clingstone, 
‘Catharine, 
‘Heaih, or “White Eng- 
lish” of our orchards, 
‘Incomparable Admirable, 
‘Lemon Clingstone, 
Late Yellow Alberge, 
Oldmixon, 
Old Newington, 
Pavie de Pompone, 
Tippecanoe. 
PLUHS. 
The pl'im is one of the hardiest of fruit trees, 
and requires not near so much care in the calti- 
v.ttion as the apple, pear and peach. It succeeds 
best when planted in a heavy loam, or in a soil 
c jntaining a large proportion of day. Where the 
soil is sandy it should be thoroughly mixed with 
clay, and enriched with swamp muck. Mr. 
Downing says he has found common salt to be 
one of the best fertilizers for the plum. The 
most successful plum grower in his neighbor- 
hood, he says, applies, w ith the best results, half 
a peck of coarse salt to the surface of the ground 
under each bearing tree, annually, about the first 
of April. 
Grafted on seedling stocks of the common 
Chickasaw’ plum of our fields, under the sur- 
face of the ground, it makes a beautiful dwarf 
tree for the garden, comes very soon into bear- 
ing, and produces very large crops of very fine 
fruit. 
The most effectual protection against the at- 
tacks of the curculio is to catch and kill the in- 
sect. About a week after the trees are out of 
blossom, commence the war. Every evening 
for about a month, spread a white cloth under 
the tree, then jar the tree by striking the body of 
it with the hand. The curculio will double him- 
seli up and fall on the cloth as if dead, appearing 
very much like a dead bud of the tree. On close 
examination he is leadily distinguished from the 
buds that fall with him, and may be caught and 
crushed. Of all the methods recommended that 
we have tried, and we have tried the most cf 
them, this is, by far, the most effectual. 
In the following list, those marked thus (*) 
have fruited in our garden, and we know them 
to be good. 
Cla-s I. — Green, 
Buel’s Favorite., 
’'Bingham, 
*Coe’s Golden Drop, 
Dana’s Yellow Gage, 
’’Green Gage, 
*HuIing’s Superb, 
*lmperial Gage, 
White or Yellow Plums. 
] Jefferson, 
j*Large Green Drying, 
I' ashinglon, Bolmet’s, 
|*While Magnum Bonum, 
Prince’s Yellow Gage, 
'Semiana. 
Class II. — Red, Plueor 
*Brevoort’s Purple Bolmer. 
Blue Imperatrice, 
Cooper’s Large Red, 
Colombian Gage, 
*Dariison, Common, 
*Dnane’s Purple, 
Diamond, 
Elfrey. 
Frost Gage, 
*Horse Plum, 
Purple Plums. 
’‘’Italian Damask, 
*Orleaiis, Smith’s, 
•^Purple Gage, cr Reine 
Claude Violette, 
’’Quetsche, or German 
Prune, 
Red Magnum Bonum, 
Royale Hative, 
’‘Sharp’s Emperor. 
The usual price of plum trees in the commer- 
cial gardens is from 50 to 100 cents per tree. 
There may s'.ill be remaining in the land some 
few persons w’ho may look upon all this fuss 
about fruit, as the veriest nonsense— utterly and 
immeasurably beneath the notice of men wdio 
plant cotton. If there be, w’e have only to re- 
quest that they hold their peace until they shall 
have seen the next number of the Cultivatob, 
and read therein an account of the recent cele- 
bration of the anniversary of the Massachusetts 
HorticultuEiil Society, at which Mr. Webster, 
Mr. Everett, Mr. Wilbur, Mr. Chapoian, Mr. 
Choules an:iothe s made speeches, investing 
the whole subject with an interest and a charm 
