AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
iesipefr to imjrnta tlje farmer, tlje flatter, aiii) % (Sarkner* 
AGRICULTURE IS TEE MOST \EEALTEY, TEE MOST USEFUL, AND TEE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN. - Washington. 
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ALLEN & CO., 189 WATER ST. 
VOL. XI.] NEW-YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1853. [NUMBER 16. 
fm-FOR PROSPECTUS, TERMS, £c., 
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POMOLOGICAL REALITIES. 
PEAR CULTIVATION. 
As I look around in every direction and see 
the number of fine farms, and the loads of ap¬ 
ples, peaches, and plums that are annually sold 
in this vicinity, I really must express my aston¬ 
ishment and surprise, that our intelligent farm¬ 
ers do not pay more attention to the cultivation 
ofthatmostdelicious and profitable of all fruits— 
the pear. On each side of our country roads, 
we see orchards of apple trees, bending almost 
to the earth with their golden or crimson bur¬ 
dens, plums with their purple or yellow fruit 
peeping out amidst the luxuriant dark foliage, 
and peach trees literally breaking under their 
loads of luscious fruit, but when we ask where 
are the pears ? both farmer and echo only an¬ 
swer—Where ? 
Quite a large number of farmers with whom I 
have conversed upon this subject, have ad¬ 
vanced the opinion that pears will not repay the 
cost of cultivation; are too much trouble, and 
cost too much at the nurseries; but when the 
fact is generally known, that one person (Mar¬ 
tin Smith, of Tarrytown,) has sold during one 
season alone, Virgalieu pears to the amount of 
$600, (six hundred dollars,) at $4 per bushel, 
besides $100 worth of Bartletts—all the produce 
of one acre of ground—I think the first object¬ 
ion will at once be done away with. I could 
mention several other instances, but will let this 
suffice for the present. The second objection 
may be easily obviated by preserving the seeds 
of any hardy pear in moist (not too wet) sand 
all winter, then sowing them in any rich spare 
corner of the garden in the spring, and the next 
season transplanting the young trees into nur¬ 
sery rows, where in one, or at the most two 
years, they will be old enough to be budded or 
grafted as the farmer may choose. I may here* 
remark, that generally I consider budding pre¬ 
ferable in many respects to grafting, as the 
operation is much more easily performed, can 
be done in the fall when one is not very busy, 
and if the buds should fail, the stocks can yet 
be grafted the following spring. As regards 
the scions or buds, if the farmer will purchase 
from any reliable nursery-man, one or two trees 
of those kinds selected to be cultivated, and 
keep them for stock trees to furnish scions or 
buds, he will find that in a few years he can 
have a valuable pear orchard at the expense of a 
few dollars. 
When buying trees let me advise farmers to 
purchase their stock trees only from some well- 
known and old established-nursery, and not 
from any of those unauthorized (so-called) 
agents, but in reality “ tree peddlers,” who go 
about seeking whom they can “take in.” I 
have seen it stated by several Western papers, 
that such men are swarming throughout the 
whole length and breadth of this State, selling- 
trees to the unwary “ to order,” that is to say, 
writing the names of the kinds required, and 
tying them to any tree they happen to have near 
at hand. These tree peddlers travel the same 
road only once, for fear, I suppose, of becoming 
too well known and popular amongst their cus¬ 
tomers, whilst on the other hand the nursery¬ 
man is always on the same spot, and can be 
found, should any mistake occur which requires 
to be rectified. The pear does not require more 
culture than the apple; is a very long-lived tree, 
as is well proved by the old Stuyvesant pear 
tree yet existing in New-York, and which is over 
200 years old; it generally takes up less space 
than the apple, and when well cultivated is 
much more profitable, if of a good kind. The 
farmer has no occasion to plant out all the new 
varieties, of the vast number of which some 
idea may be formed from the fact that the Hon. 
Marshall P. Wilder, at the last exhibition of 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, ex¬ 
hibited 310 varieties. Let his richer amateur 
neighbor try all the new sorts and then report 
progress, and if any very superior and profit¬ 
able varieties make their appearance, the farmer 
can reap the profit, as the agricultural journals 
will be sure to mention them. What we want 
for farming purposes are pears that are hardy, 
productive, and profitable; and six kinds will do 
as well or even better than six dozen, especially 
if these six are well selected. A good, strong, 
loamy soil, with a dry substratum, is what the 
pear most delights in; if too moist or wet, it 
requires draining. The standard trees—that is, 
the trees grafted or budded on the pear stock— 
should stand 25 or 30 feet apart, and one or two 
dwarf trees, of which I shall speak hereafter, 
may be planted between each standard. 
I will name a few of the best varieties as far 
as I am able to judge, both from my own ex¬ 
perience and from the judgment of some of our 
best fruit growers. At the late Fair in Sara¬ 
toga, evening meetings or reunions were held, 
at which the comparative value of the different 
pears was discussed, and a selection of three 
kinds was recommended for general culture. 
The result was, that the Seckle received 6 votes; 
the Virgalieu also, 6; the Bartlett, 5 ; the Flemish 
Beauty, 2 ; and the Vicar of Winkfield, 1; thus 
recommending the Seckle, the Virgalieu, and 
the Bartlett, as the three best pears for general 
cultivation, and I must add that in this neigh¬ 
borhood they all succeed very well, excepting 
that the Virgalieu is sometimes apt to crack. 
The Flemish Beauty is often very fine, but not 
to be relied upon as a general thing, and al¬ 
though as a winter pear, the Vicar of Winkfield 
received several votes, yet I am sorry to say, 
that its reputation here is but poor as a dessert 
fruit; it, however, bears abundant crops, and I 
have tasted and seen very good flavored, large, 
and fine specimens from Boston and Philadelphia; 
and could we grow them here to the same degree 
of perfection, I should be perfectly satisfied with 
it. I will here mention that about a year ago I 
met with a French pomologist, who positively as¬ 
serted that the Vicar and Monsieur le Cure were 
not synonyms, but entirely different fruit, and 
pointed out a marked difference in the stems— 
one being straight and the other inclined—so 
that perhaps those I have seen here are of a 
spurious variety. I should like to see this sub¬ 
ject settled, however, before recommending this 
variety to the farmer, and also whether it is 
only as a prolific and cooking variety it has 
been chosen, or from any excellent quality of 
the flesh. 
The Winter Nelis is always excellent, and 
will keep until January; the tree is hardy, 
productive, and thrifty, and is as fine a winter 
pear as any I know of. The Easter Beurre, 
especially as preserved and ripened by Mr. D. 
T. Curtis, of Boston, is truly delicious, and may 
be kept until very late. Barry recommends 
this variety to be grown upon the quince. At 
the above meeting two votes were given for the 
Lawrence, a native pear, which is said to bear 
regular and abundant crops. As I have already 
mentioned dwarf pears, I will here explain that 
the term “ dwarf” only applies to the tree, and 
the dwarfish habit is produced by either bud¬ 
ding or grafting the pear upon the quince, which 
is of slower growth and less vigorous than the 
pear. Any laborer can make cuttings from a 
quince bush, and by planting these cuttings in 
a moist, shady situation, they will soon send 
out roots and form quince stocks, on which the 
pears intended for dwarfs can be budded. 
These dwarf trees, if properly trained, do not 
take up much more space than a good-sized 
currant bush, and frequently bear fruit in two 
years from the bud. I have one dwarf Bartlett, 
6 feet high by 3 feet in diameter, (although I 
must confess it is on a pear stock,) that bore 
this season 55 as large and fine pears as I should 
wish to see. I do not mention this as any thing 
extraordinary, but merely to show what may 
be done in the way of dwarfs. Barry recom¬ 
mends the Glout Morceau, Vicar of Winkfield, 
and Easter Beurre, as pears best adapted to the 
quince stock, whilst Dr. Wendell substitutes 
the Winter Nelis in preference to the Glout 
Morceau. 
Should the farmer or the gardener desire to 
