242 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
plant more varieties, there are some few others 
that I could recommend; one or two trees of 
the Bloodgood would make a very good variety, 
as the tree bears early and regularly; the fruit 
is ripe in July or August, and is one of our best 
early pears. The Buffum is also a good, although 
i ullier a small pear; but as the tree is hardy, 
vigorous, and a prolific bearer, and the fruit 
ripens in September, I have no doubt it would 
meet with a ready sale. The Beurre d’Arem- 
burg is an abundant bearer, a good keeping 
pear, as far as I have seen succeeds very well, 
and will prove worthy of cultivation. The 
Beurre Bose ripens about the beginning of Oc¬ 
tober, is a regular bearer and a very good fruit. 
The Beurre Diel, from specimens seen at my 
neighbors, I should also recommend; but it re¬ 
quires a warm soil, and is fit for use from Sep¬ 
tember to December if gradually ripened in the 
house. The Dix is a very delicious native pear 
that ripens in October and November, but has 
the bad habit of not bearing fruit until it has at¬ 
tained the “years of discretion.” The Doyenne 
Gris or Gray Butter is very delicious and rich 
flavored, ripens in October, and may be pre¬ 
served several weeks. The Duchess d’Angou- 
leme is a large and splendid fruit; one specimen 
I have seen weighed 25 oz., but it ought to be 
grown upon the quince. The Fulton is a small 
native pear of excellent quality; the tree is 
hardy and productive, but the fruit should be 
ripened in the house—ripe, October to Novem¬ 
ber. The Harvard is also a native pear; the 
tree is hardy, productive and healthy. This is 
also a good market fruit, and ripe in Septem¬ 
ber. Louise Bonne de Jersey, as a late autumn 
pear, is hardy and productive. Bostiezer is a 
small pear, but good, and bears full crops in 
September. Steven’s Genessee and Onondaga, 
or Swan’s Orange also promise well. I might 
enumerate several other varieties that also 
would be profitable. 
While on the subject of the qualities of various 
pears, I must say, I firmly believe that if our 
farmers would only take the trouble to raise 
and test more seedlings, our native pear would 
be much more healthy, better adapted to our 
climate, and eventually supersede many of the 
foreign varieties, that almost always require to 
be acclimated before they succeed well. A West 
Indian friend, with whom I was conversing on 
this subject, mentioned that on his plantation it 
was customary to plant only the plumpest and 
largest seeds of the orange when a fine and 
sweet fruit was wanted, and that on the con¬ 
trary, the lean and shrivelled pips produced 
only sour and poor oranges. Now, although I 
believe this to be against Van Mons’s theory, 
yet it sounds like reason, for when we want 
a good or high bred fowl, we invariably select 
the best and largest to breed from; otherwise 
we might with equal propriety take a liliputian 
Bantam, and endeavor to improve (?) it by de¬ 
grees until it acquires the bone and sinew of 
the Chittagong and Shanghai. Although, per¬ 
haps erroneously, I would recommend the farm¬ 
er always to sow the finest and plumpest seeds, 
as the most likely means of producing the best 
seedlings. I have forgotten to mention two 
pears that also ought to be on every farm, viz., 
the Pound and the Black Worcester; for, al¬ 
though they are only baking pears, a baked or 
stewed pear makes a very acceptable winter 
dish on a farmer’s table, besides being very pro¬ 
fitable if kept for market. The Pound pear 
sometimes attains an enormous size, and 1 have 
at the present moment a specimen of this kind 
of pear that weighs 2 lbs. 1 oz., (33 oz.,) which 
was sent as a present from a Boston friend. 
With regard to the weight of fruit, I will here 
mention, that the largest Beurre Diel I have re¬ 
ceived this year, weighed 16 oz., which is 
pretty large, although much larger have been 
grown. Urbaniste, weighed 9 oz.; Oswego 
Beurre, 8 oz.; Dix, 11 oz.; and Brown Beurre, 
8) oz. One of the best new pears I have tested, 
(to my own taste,) is the Hencklefrom Hovey & 
Co., Boston. The Beurre Beauchamps was also 
very good; but I should advise farmers to let 
these new kinds alone until, as I have before 
said, they have been tested by their richer 
amateur neighbors, who can afford the time, and 
pay more attention to them. Let those who 
wish for good crops and profit, keep to the 
Seckle, Bartlett, Virgalieu, Winter Nelis, Easter 
Beurrd and Lawrence; or if they should wish 
to try experiments, let them buy the Vicar of 
Winkfield, or any of the others I have before 
mentioned. G. 
Byrnesville. 
-1 O (- - 
Tiie American Hand-Book of Ornamental Trees. By 
Thomas Meehan, Gardener, pp. 237 ; 75 cents. Lippin- 
colt, Grambo & Go. 1853. 
The little work before us supplies a want 
which has been created by the increased taste 
for the cultivation of Ornamental trees within a 
few years. Those who take a personal interest 
in the decoration of their country-seats, will be 
gratified at the appearance of a book which fur¬ 
nishes a condensed and practical guide, not only 
to the names of the individual species best suited 
to their wants, but is also plain and comprehen¬ 
sive in its directions for the propagation, plant¬ 
ing, and treatment of trees general^. The sub¬ 
ject of planting is treated in a scientific manner; 
the principles on which the practice is founded 
being clearly laid down, and exceptions to gene¬ 
ral rules satisfactorily explained. The best sea¬ 
son for transplanting, has been the subject of 
much discussion, and great difference of opin¬ 
ion still exists on this question. In laying- 
down definite rules in such disputed matters, 
reasons should in all cases accompany them, so 
that persons who hold opposite opinions may be 
induced' to inquire more fully into the subject. 
Certain conditions must be complied with to en¬ 
sure the growth of a tree when planted, and it 
has been shown that these conditions can be 
secured at any season of the year by care and 
precaution, while at some seasons, less attention 
is requisite. As a general rule the author pre¬ 
fers autumn planting, for which his reasons are 
given at page 35, in the following paragraph: 
“ In planting, the immediate object is to get a 
speedy formation of new roots or fibres; the 
best time to plant, then, will be when the earth 
is a few degrees warmer than the atmosphere, 
and when the elaborated sap is descending and 
active, and the tree itself least likely to suffer 
from excessive evaporation. That time is the 
autumn, at the fall of the leaf.” Instances are 
cited where success has been attained at other 
seasons, and the cause explained. The author, 
while he has attended to scientific accuracy in 
the brief descriptions of the species and pre- 
served a coi-rect nomenclatux-e, has made the 
former sufficiently popular to be understood by 
the majority of intelligent readers, and has add¬ 
ed to the botanical a popular name which is 
a valuable addition. To adapt these descriptions 
of species to the capacity of the general reader, 
is one of the greatest difficulties to be overcome 
in this branch of literatui’e, as full botanical des¬ 
criptions arc of no service to such, while brief 
and popular ones, are of as little service to the 
botanist. The public have not as yet been con¬ 
ciliated with regard to “ these hard names.” 
The volume before us is designed to place a 
correct knowledge of American ornamental trees 
in a convenient form within the reach of the 
amateur, and at the same time to furnish practi¬ 
cal infonnation coupled with scientific accuracy 
deduced from personal obsei-vation and' study. 
The best authorities in nomenclature are taken 
as guides in thatdepai'tment, the rest is vouched 
for by the author and his personal friends. The 
collection of the late John Bartkam, now the 
px-operty of A. M. Eastwick, the richest in the 
counti-y, furnishes the greater portion of living 
specimens referred to in the work. The author 
is already known to a large portion of the Hor¬ 
ticultural public by his contributions to the pe¬ 
riodicals of the day, and we have no doubt this 
addition to gardening litei’ature will be received 
in the spirit in which it is offered. 
NEW-YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
First Conversational Meeting.— The first 
informal meeting of the Society for the discus¬ 
sion of horticultural topics, was held on Monday 
evening, Dec. 12th, at the Society’s room, 600 
Broadway; J. C. Parsons in the chair. 
Subjects. The Cultivation of Fruits, and the 
Cultivation of Roses in Pots. 
Mr. P. B. Mead made a few introductory re- 
mai'ks in explanation of the objects for which 
these meetings had been organized. He felt 
that the Society had not accomplished as much 
as it should have done in the diffusion of a 
knowledge of Fruit and Plant culture, and it 
was to supply such information that they had 
got up these meetings, which he trusted would 
be found useful to the public. He had pi-epared 
a brief essay on the cultivation of Fruits which, 
with their permission, he would read. 
After the reading of the essay, a committee 
was appointed to prepare a list of Fruits for the 
vicinity of New-York. 
The Cultivation of Roses' in Pots was then 
taken up. 
B. Boll. The Rose and its treatment is a 
vei - y extensive topic, and demands care and re¬ 
flection to discuss it properly. Its propagation, 
the different methods employed, by cuttings, 
budding, gi’afting and seeds, should first be taken 
up; a great deal may be said about the treatment 
of cuttings, the proper time to graft, &c. Cut¬ 
tings may succeed at almost any season of the 
year. Grafting is also performed at different 
seasons, generally in the spring, either on the 
stocks or roots. Seeds are sown eai-ly in the 
fall, as soon as ripe. The Rose, to succeed well, 
requires a rich soil, and different modes of treat¬ 
ment, according as they are intended for the 
green-house or out doors. It is very difficult 
to cultivate them propei’ly in rooms, and it re- 
quircs much experience and many trials to de¬ 
cide what is the best method, or the varieties 
best adapted for this purpose. I believe the 
number is very limited indeed. 
