16 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
8 to 20 feet. As I said at tlie commencement, there is not sufficient proof of 
what the ultimate success may be, but the rods are everything at present that 
can be desired, with fine, bold, prominent eyes, large, and quite unlike those 
of laterals. In one or two grafts is large and stronger wood, but they will be 
altered by the time they are ripened-off. J. F. 
AT WHAT AGE SHOULD A PINE APPLE SHOW FRUIT? 
Good growers of this king of fruits differ in opinion on this subject. One 
considers eighteen months long enough time to secure a strong plant capable 
of producing a fruit equal to a plant double its age. Other growers, again, 
object to starting a Pine into fruit until it is quite three years old. Now there 
is a wide difference between these two, some may call, extremes. The question, 
therefore, is—Can a Pine of eighteen or twenty months growth produce a 
fruit equal, or nearly so, to one of double that age ? My experience founded 
on some years rather extensive practice corroborates such; and I am of opinion 
some Pine-growers err in growing such huge plants as we frequently see— 
stems as thick as a man’s leg, with elongated, lanky, leathery leaves, more like 
the New Zealand Flax than the short, crisp, green foliage of a really good- 
grown Pine. I consider as soon as a Pine has well filled a 16-sized pot with 
good healthy roots, nothing more is to be gained by growing on for a longer 
period without fruiting. I also think eighteen months amply long enough for 
such purpose, providing first-class management has been given all through the 
earlier stages of the plant’s growth. Little is gained by what are called 
seasons of rest. (When is the Pine at rest ?) With good treatment they 
grow more or less during every month in the year. A fruit of 4, 5, or 6 lbs. 
weight from an eighteen-months plant is, I consider, the perfection of Pine¬ 
growing ; and that such results are accomplished I have no hesitation to 
believe. * 
Crom Castle. . * John Eddington. 
REMARKS ON PEARS. 
The past season having been dry and warm, was favourable for the ripening 
of Pears of a tender kind, which are often worthless in other seasons, or at 
least do not answer to their high characters in catalogues. I have grown Van 
Mons Leon le Clerc and the Vicar of Winkfield for many years, and though 
the fruit of both was large and handsome, it was often inferior in quality ; but 
this season the fruit of both is good, though of only second-rate flavour. I 
should notice, however, that in cold damp soils the Vicar of Winkfield Pear 
is only fit for cooking. Mr. Rivers states so in his excellent catalogue of 
fruits. The same may be said of some of the newer kinds, such as the 
Beurre Bachelier and Beurre Triomphe ; but as my knowledge of those two 
noble-looking Pears is rather imperfect, I speak of them with diffidence. The 
observation, however, may also apply to some of the very old kinds, such 
as the St. Germain and Chaumontel. Miller, who wrote his Dictionary, 
describes eighty different kinds of Pears chiefly of French descent, and speaks 
of many others of less value. Another writer, Dr. Neill, mentions that the 
old kinds of Pears found near the sites of monasteries were introduced into 
this country from France by the monks, who were the only persons in those 
days that cultivated fruit trees ; but I think it doubtful if the St. Germain or 
Chaumontel has been found amongst them. Miller, however, calls the first 
“ the Unknown of La Fare, by its being first discovered upon the banks of a 
