318 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ April 28, 1892. 
a beautifully flavoured Pear ; but when the time comes for its ripening, 
about March, it is a poor withered thing with hardly a mouthful 
eatable in it, although I have always left it on the tree as long as 
possible, and kept it in a cool cellar. It has sometimes provoked a smile 
when I have seen such Pears planted as pyramids in new gardens in 
the neighbourhood after my failure with them on a south wall. Beurr 6 
Bachelier and Beurr^ d’Amanlis I have had. The former bloomed, set 
its fruit freely and grew to a large size, but had no flavour whatever. 
It might have satisfied some, but I do not believe in growing Pears that 
are not nearly so good as those which can be bought. Beurre d’Amanlis 
is very little better. Louise Bonne of Jersey, G-ratioli, and Madame Trey ve 
are all, I consider, inferior, being wanting in flavour, though doubtless 
very good in parts that suit them. Marie Louise d’lJccle and Fertility 
were peculiar in never getting mellow ; they kept to the consistency of 
a Potato, and then decayed in the middle. Duchesse d’Angouleme, Beurrfi 
d’Anjou, Glou Morgeau, Passe Colmar, General Todtleben, and others 
I have tried and dismissed, either because they are very shy bearers or 
because of the fruits not coming to perfection, 
I now come to the sorts that I have succeeded well or fairly with. 
Jargonelle is known to most. It is not a desirable tree to have many 
of, as the wood is so long jointed, requiring much room, and the fruit 
also soon decays. I have only had a short experience of Clapp’s 
Favourite, but I think it will do. Williams’ Bon Chrfitien does fairly 
well on the wall; but as a pyramid, when the bloom can be got, when 
it escapes the frcst and cold winds, the fruit sets, and a summer follows 
to bring it to perfection, this Pear has been of finer flavour than from 
the wall. Those combinations, however, rarely occur in these parts in 
my experience, particularly of late years. Souvenir du Congres does 
very well, and I had some fine fruit last year, both from my east and 
west wall. Fondante d’Automne is a delicious Pear in a good season, 
but rather shy in bearing. Pitmaston Duchess blooms and sets its fruit 
well, and is a grand looking Pear. It is not of such fine flavour as those 
I shall mention later on ; but it is very passable, and is well worth 
growing. Marie Louise is an excellent Pear, although it often fails to 
set its fruit. I had some very fine fruit last year from a tree on my east 
wall, and it was with a dish of these and one of Pitmaston Duchess that 
I took the first prize in the local class at the Chrysanthemum and Fruit 
Show in November last. 
Doyennfi du Comice is the finest Pear of all, and of delicious flavour 
and texture. It seems rather more shy in bearing, and the fruit has not 
grown so large lately as in some former years. Whether this is due to 
the season or the increasing number of houses I cannot say ; I hope the 
former. Beurrfi Diel, though rather a strong grower and a little more 
difficult to manage than some, is an excellent Pear to have. While very 
good, it is not so high in quality as the preceding ; but no variety that I 
know is equal to it in blooming and setting its fruit. Durondeau is a 
handsome Pear, and does fairly well. I have only had a short experi¬ 
ence with it, but I think it will answer in this part. There may be 
many others that would do that I have not tried, but I think those I 
have mentioned are enough, and give a sufficient variety. 
As to gathering the fruit, the time, of course, varies according to the 
description and according to the season. I have gathered the last four 
Pears mentioned from the first week to the end of October, and they 
usually ripen in about a month ; the earlier kinds in about a week to a 
fortnight from the time of gathering. T place the fruit on wooden trays 
in a cellar, with a slip of paper to each, giving the name and date of 
gathering ; and I enter this also in a book, and the time of ripening, 
with remarks as to the quality, which I find useful for future reference. 
There are one or two other points I would refer to. I have seen 
some arrangements advertised for fixing at the top of walls, with the 
view of protecting the bloom from frost, and many years back was 
almost tempted to try them ; but my later experience has taught me 
that it is not an occasional light frost, but the cold winds and ungenial 
weather that we too often have at the fiowering season that interfere 
with the fruit setting. Why, however, it sometimes fails to set when the 
season has apparently been favourable is a problem I have never been 
able to solve. I think it very necessary to have permanent metal labels, 
with the name and approximate time of ripening, put on the wall 
to every tree ; they are as useful to the grower as to posterity. Then 
as the frequent visits to the trees, especially in the spring months, 
would tread the ground into a hard mass, I have pathway frames 
placed a short distance from the wall to walk upon. They are made of . 
two strips of deal about 10 feet long or any suitable length, by 2 ^ inches ’ 
wide, with pieces the same width and about 11 inches long nailed 
across, and about 3-inch spaces. They form something lit 3 a rude 
ladder, and if made of sound deal and painted they last a ! >ng time. 
They do not, I think, interfere to any appreciable extent wit 1 the heat 
and moisture reaching the roots, and I can walk along ohem and 
examine the trees in comfort at any time, no matter what the weather 
has been. 
In conclusion, it was with considerable hesitation that I accepted 
the invitation to write this paper, because I have had no experience in 
writing, and I felt that with my small garden it was hardly worth 
writing about. I have not the knowledge of experts and those who 
have made fruit culture their study, and many have probably had far 
more and better experience than myself. Therefore what I have said I 
must ask to be taken, not as giving advice, but only as describing what 
I have done myself as an amateur. I have grown some good Pears, but 
every year I find I have something to learn. It has been a most enjoy¬ 
able, and I believe a very valuable additional occupation. It has served 
to assist in taking my thoughts from those troubles which every business 
man meets with more or less, and there is no greater pleasure to me 
than when I can, or feel I must, give a few hours to my garden. There 
is to my view an infinitely greater amount of pleasure gained in seeing 
in the garden the results of work done or superintended by oneself, and 
so far as gardeners are concerned my view is that when an employer has 
some practical knowledge on the subject he is far better able to appreciate 
the work of his gardener. 
I had four of my trees photographed when in fruit last year ; they 
were taken for me by an amateur friend, as souvenirs only of the best 
and most regularly distributed crop I ever had on these trees. 
[Fig. 54 represents one of them grown as horizontally trained Pears 
should be, with the lower branches longer than those above them till 
the wall space is occupied. Mr. Mole’s paper is both interesting and 
instructive.] 
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GROWING IN THE FEN 
COUNTRY. 
At last I will redeem my promise by sending you a short account of 
the fruit growing and market gardening industry in this parish. The 
acreage of Cottenham is 7500, and the population 2500. There is a 
peculiarity about our social economy which does not exist in many other 
places. We count time from the year of grace 1842 ; events, with us, 
either happened before or after that date. Fifty years ago next 
Michaelmas 5000 acres (to use round numbers) of land was turned from 
pasture into arable, or perhaps it should be said the greater part of it 
was, and the remaining 2500 acres of arable was cultivated under such 
very different conditions that there is nothing to wonder at in finding 
people who passed through such a revolution looking back to it as the 
great epoch in the history of their parish. 
The 5000 acres above mentioned is what we call “ fen ” land, but not 
more than about three-fourths of it is drained artificially, and fully 
one-half consists of a good loam, varying from light to strong and stiff, 
leaving the remaining half part to be classed properly as fen— i.e., a soil 
of a light friable texture, and dark or black in colour. This last is of 
course the lowest part of the fen ; it has mostly a thin bed of not very 
good gravel under it. 
It is not this part of the parish that is generally devoted to fruit 
growing, but on some part of it is grown a small quantity of general 
market produce for the supply of our local centre and county town— 
Cambridge, Since the price of Wheat has been low, besides this small 
quantity of vegetables a good many Potatoes have been grown ; but as 
it is only on the light black land that the noble tuber thrives, it will be 
quite understood that we do not get for our Potatoes when grown the 
very highest Covent Garden prices. Asparagus has been, and is, grown 
on various parts of the fens, and with very “ various ” success ; for 
while occasionally a good piece, and in one or two instances a very good 
piece, has been grown, on the whole it must be admitted that it is a 
very risky business on any part of our drainage level. In leaving this 
class of land it might be said that previous to its enclosure in 1842 with 
one slight exception it had probably never been under cultivation, at 
least not since the general subsidence of the great fen district in Cambs, 
Hunts, Norfolk, and Lincoln. 
Previous to the enclosure above referred to our “ highland was 
cultivated on the “open field” system, which, had the same facilities 
for the distribution of the produce then existed that we now have, 
would have been a bar to fruit growing and market gardening. Since 
1842, and mostly during the last fifteen or sixteen years, over 500 acres 
have been planted with fruit and Asparagus. Fruit trees are planted at 
rates varying from 100 to 300 per acre, with bush fruits under them. 
Of the latter Gooseberries and Raspberries preponderate, although all 
other common fruits are cultivated. 
Our soil is a good substantial loam ; the subsoil varies. The land is 
locally classed as “red,” “strong,” and “heavy.” The “red land” is 
an outcrop of the lower greensand, which is from 4 or 5 to 14 feet in 
thickness. The greatest obstacle to the cultivation of fruit on this land 
is a thin layer, often not more than 3 inches in thickness, of a hard 
rocky stone, which all roots seem to be unable to pass. It depends upon 
the depth at which this rock lies whether trees will thrive or not. 
Where it is near the surface they have a great tendency to go wrong ; 
canker or gall is what it is termed here. The result is that the growth 
of one year dies the next (or part of it), which, besides keeping the trees 
in a very stunted condition, has a very unsightly appearance, and^ there 
is little or no bearing wood. Where this is not more than 18 inches 
from the surface it would probably pay to dig it out. This is occasion¬ 
ally done in making holes for planting, but as healthy trees must have 
their roots near the surface it probaWy does as much harm as good if 
the layer is not taken from the whole area. Happily not very much of 
this class of land has the stone anything like so near the top as 18 inches. 
It is often from 3 to 5 or 6 feet deep. In this case little or no harm 
results, and it is this land which is considered our best. 
Asparagus, unlike fruit, appears to thrive best on soil which has this 
rocky layer near the surface, for while nearly the whole of our “ grass ” 
is grown on red land, certainly the most successful examples of its 
cultivation have been on land which does not suit fruit or corn in any¬ 
thing like the same degree. In very hot dry seasons Barley and Wheat 
hardly come into ear at all in these very thin places. 
Our “ strong land ” is a stiffer loam than the preceding, and has a 
less porous subsoil, but is generally good and useful both for farming 
and fruit-growing. Asparagus is not a good crop for land of this 
description. Underlying this is gault at irregular depths, varying from 
