r 
SEPT. n. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER! AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
311 
THE AMERICAN POMOLOGIGAL SOCIETY. 
many of ns once more to assemble for the advance¬ 
ment of the earliest pursuit of maD. 
As the original law of labor required man “to 
dress aud keep the garden,” so his primitive food 
was the fruit of its trees—of all its trees save odc: 
and the Divine Benelicence, when it declared, ‘ I 
fulfill the Divine promise, “that seed time and 
harvest shall not fail,” but because in instances of 
failure the conditions of success are not complied 
with. Perhaps there was a want of intelligence, of 
judicious cultivation, or of that vigilance which 
takes hold of an enterprise, with a determination 
to surmount all obstacles and to “hold on” Some 
! I 
The American Pomological Society held its 
Seventh Session in New York, commencing on 
the 14th inst., aud continuing three days. Three 
sessions were held on each of the first two days, the 
last one protracted until quite late, and two on the 
last day,—so that with examinations of the fruit on 
exhibition, in a hall in the same building, all the 
time was completely employed, and very little op¬ 
portunity afforded for necessary rest or refresh¬ 
ment. This was emphatically a working Conven¬ 
tion—there was no soiree, or anything of the kind 
to call the attention of members from their proper 
work—and nothing short of eleven or twelve hours 
hard labor each day would satisfy the President, 
who has a very superior faculty for leading a 
gang of workers. 
The attendance was not large, numbering at no 
time more than two hundred, and these were prin 
cipally members and delegates from the country, 
and a few men of taste from around New York. 
The city people seemed to take no interest in.the 
exhibition, and we do not think one in a thousand 
heard of if, and certainly not one in twenty thou¬ 
sand thought enough of the matter to take a look 
at the exhibition of fruits or a seat in the Conven¬ 
tion. At one time we saw three ladies in the fruit 
room examining the specimens, and at another, 
two. At a “ Hop,” at the St Nicholas, we saw a 
hundred, perhaps. Among the delegates and mem¬ 
bers in attendance, we observed many of the most 
intelligent Horticulturists of the country, and many 
of the more distant States were represented— 
North Carolina and Georgia, Ohio and Michigan, 
very ably. We do hope that at the next session, 
two years from the present time, the West will be 
well represented. It is not asking too much of the 
fruit growers and nurserymen of the West, to give 
ns the light of their countenances and their knowl¬ 
edge, once in two years. And theD, should they 
attend, in large numbers, and ask it, we have no 
doubt the session for 18G2 would be appointed at 
the West, either at Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, 
or Chicago. Among the many excellent men pres¬ 
ent was the venerable Nicholas Longwoiith, of 
Cincinnati. The announcement of his name by 
the President was received with loud and long- 
continued applause, which showed how strong a 
hold this devoted pomologist has upon the hearts 
of the fruit growers of the country. He shows 
signs of feebleness. May the evening of his life be 
as peaceful as its noon has been useful. 
There seemed but two drawbacks to the usefulness 
and interest of the meeting, which we hope to see 
corrected in future, and that was the extreme 
modesty of those who had a good deal of knowl¬ 
edge of the subjects discussed, and the extreme 
want of modesty of some who had but very little 
knowledge, and seemed anxious to make a great 
Bhow of that little; and, therefore, thought it 
necessary to rise and bore the Convention with re¬ 
marks at every convenient and inconvenient oppor¬ 
tunity. These new hands, who seem desirous to 
show themselves, should learn that forwardness is 
a poor substitute for sense, and that it is bad policy 
to spread a very little knowledge over so large a 
surface. 
The exhibition of fruit was said to be the best 
ever made in New York, and it was certainly very 
fine. As we expect to he furnished by the officers 
with a list of the fruits exhibited, our notes on this 
point may not be entirely full, though they are very 
nearly so. The collection of apples from North 
Carolina was exceedingly fine and fair. 
Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, exhibited 200 
varieties of pears and 37 of plums. Finer specimens of 
some of the pears have seldom been exhibited. 
Messrs. Hovey & Co., of Boston, made their usually fine 
display of pears, but we hare no note of the number ex¬ 
hibited. 
The Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, of Boston, exhibited 144 
varieties of pears, of the most beautiful size, shape and 
color. 
Wm. Reid, of Elizabeth, N. J., exhibited specimens of 
104 varieties of pears. 
Mr. Wm. L. Ferris, of Throg’s Neck, exhibited 55 varie¬ 
ties of pears. 
Mr. Sheldon Moore, Kensington, Conn., exhibited 5 va¬ 
rieties of apples. 
E. M. Warren, Chelmsford, Mass., 8 varieties summer 
and fall sweet apples, 10 fall and Winter sweet apples, 24 
fall and winter sour apples, 30 early and summer sour 
apples. 
Messrs. Thorp, Smith & Hanchett, Spracuse, exhibited 
124 varieties of pears. 
J. D. Ingersoll, Illion, Herkimer Co., N. Y., 3 species of 
Delaware grapes, 2 Logan, 1 unknown. 
Dr. J. F. Boynton, Syracuse, 14 varieties of pears. 
Mr. Lyon, Plymouth, Mich., 27 varieties of pears and 
apples. 
Mr. W. H. Mitchell, Harlem, 13 varieties of pears and 14 
varieties of apples. 
Mr. C. H. Moore, New York, 1 seedling pear. 
Mr. E. W. Sylvester, Lyons, N. Y., 3 varieties of pears 
Prof. Mapes, 13 varieties of pears. 
Messrs. Westbrook & Mendenhall, Greensboro’, N. C., 77 
varieties of apples and 13 varieties of pears. 
Mr. John G. Bergen, Brooklyn, specimens of the Island, 
(a new variety,) the Bergen, Englebert and the Ott pears 
Mr. James M. Paul, North Adams, Mass., 20 varieties of 
app'es and 10 varieties of pears. 
Mr. S. P. Carpenter, New Rochelle, 3 new varieties of 
pear, originating in Westchester county. 
Mr. E. G. Studley, Claverack, Columbia Co., 10 varieties 
of apples. 
Mr. W. P. Townsend, Lockport, N. Y., 38 varieties of 
pears. 
Mr. Joshua Pierce, Washington, D. C., 5 enormous Can- 
telope melons, 18 to 22 inches long. 
Dr. Grant, of Iona, exhibited very fine specimens of 
the Delaware, Catawba, Rebecca, Anna, Askalon, Union 
Yillage and other grapes. 
Mr. Tompkins, of Germantown, N. Y., exhibited a collec¬ 
tion of grapes, embracing Isabellas, Concords, Catawba?, 
&c., all finely grown. 
Chas. Downing, of Newburgh, also showed a fine collec¬ 
tion of grapes, embracing all the newest and best, and 
exceedingly well grown. 
The Diana grape, it seems to us, is very much improv¬ 
ing. As now grown at the east, it is nearly as large as 
the Catawba, and the little Delaware, which, when we 
first saw it, was very small, now is shown nearly as large 
as the Isabella, as commonly grown. 
r-- A, ™,, ovorv tree n which is fruit vield- to surmount an oDstacies ana xs aura on come 
31S l\tm h a?dTovV pro- pomologists have jantly ascribed to us in Massaehu- 
ing seed, - - . - 
vided for the extension of this art, and the multi¬ 
plication of its blessings through every period of 
time. AVith such a Divine charter — with such a 
rule of duty, is it not a little surprising that the 
honor should have been reserved for the present 
century, for our own time aud country, of giving 
birth to the first Pomological Society in the world ? 
But from this fact let us not infer, that our ances¬ 
tors and the generations which preceded them, did 
little or nothing to improve this part of their in¬ 
heritance. 
The representative arts of ancient, Egypt, contain 
delineations of delicious fruits afterwards cultivat¬ 
ed in the hanging gardens of Nineveh, the interval 
lands of Babylon, in the vales and on the moun¬ 
tains round about Jerusalem. In Greece, Homer 
Xenophon, 
setts what they have been pleased to denominate 
a “mania” for pear-growing. They have also 
made honorable mention of the success which had 
attended it. But it should be borne in mind, that 
neither the soil or the climate of our Common¬ 
wealth, are as well adapted to this fruit as those of 
most of the other Slates of the Union; and if the 
fruit-growers in this region have acquired any 
such celebrity, it is to be ascribed to their intelli¬ 
gence, indefatigable industry and perseverance, 
more than to any other cause. 
When the Almighty commanded man to replen¬ 
ish the earth and subdue it, he also gave him do¬ 
minion over nature, and required him to subordi¬ 
nate her to his nse. The cultivator should not 
wait idly for nature to work out what God intended 
him to perform. He should learn to work in har 
S mony with nature He .holdplant tree.wi.h a 
frnit’the pea •• and PI ny in enumerating the fruits proper regard to soil, sorts, and the arts o judicious 
the &PP! e - eight kinds ot the chen j, more rnmi were foreordaine d to take care of themselves, 
and grape^ to which the soil of Italy was then, and He should not be discouraged by a single failure, 
is still specially adapted. He also speaks of seve 
ral other kinds of fruits, and of the perfection 
which the art had attained in his period; hut it is 
a significant comment on that perfection, when he 
adds, that it was then, a long time since the pro¬ 
duction of any new variety, 
but should persevere, 
“ Work on and win;— 
Preach no desponding faithless view; 
Whato'er he wills, his will may do. 
Work moves and molds the mightiest birth, 
And grasps the destinies of earth !” 
We do not deny that vicissitudes attend the cnl- 
To trace the progress of Pomology, is not onr tivation of fruit-trees, as well as forest trees, and 
present purpose. Suffice it to say, this science other vegetable products. How often a severe 
having reposed in the gardens of the monasteries winter proves injurious to the peaches of the North, 
during the dark ages, came forth from those clois- the oranges of the Sonth. Within the knowl- 
ters with modern civilization and the Reformation; edge of many present, our hardiest varieties of 
and ha 3 now attained an elevated position among ^he apple, as well as of the pear, have been injured 
the most refined and honorable of human pursuits, hy sudden revulsions of climate. But these should 
Associations for the promotion of Pomology, as a n0 more discourage the pomologist, than the 
distinct science, date back only to the middle of occasional failure of a farmer’s crop by frost, 
the present century. It was previously embraced drouth, or other causes, should prevent his plant- 
in the objects of Horticultural and Agricultural j D g ^he succeeding spring. Without detracting 
Associations, and has been greatly advanced by the f rom the merit of any American pomologist, it is 
individual enterprise of a Quintinye, Duhamel, Van our firm persuasion that the failures which have 
Mons, Knight, and other scientific men, both in occurred in pear-growing, whether on the quince 
Europe and America. But the efficient cause, ot or own Btock, are attributable to improper soil 
our progress is the power of voluntary association and varieties, to injudicious treatment, or to 
— the great engine which propels the car of mod- neglect of cultivation. Hence, these failures, 
ern improvement. Its wonder working agency ap- wherever they exist, show the importance of the 
pears in the action of mind on mind, not only in prominent object of this association, which is to 
the intercourse of individual pomologists, but in develop and promulgate the scientific principles 
the various periodicals devoted to this object.— an d the personal experience, that shall reduce the 
Among these, our country can boast of some more num ber of such failures, and in the end prevent 
enduring and voluminous than any that can be their occurrence. 
fonnd in Europe. ... . One of the chief causes of failure is the non- 
Bince the organization of this Society in 1848, its adaptation of the tree to the locality. Some varie- 
example has been followed by the establishment of ties are constitutionally delicate and feeble; and, 
the British Pomological Society in London; the 0 f course, more subject than others to climatic in- 
Societie Pomologid de Beige in Brussels; and of fluences. They may be of exquisite flavor, bat 
other similar organizations located at almost every are no t w ell adapted to general cultivation. These 
point of our Union — all working in harmony for would only be grown by amateurs in favorable 
the attainment of the most reliable and important positions. Others are robust, vigorous, hardy as 
results. These are aggregating the experience of 
the wisest and best cultivators, creating a taste for 
this useful and divinely appointed art, proving 
what varieties are suited to each particular locality; 
and what, to general cultivation. These, through 
the influence of the Horticultural and Agricultural 
the oak, resisting the extremes of cold and heat, 
of tempest and storm, retaining their luxuriant and 
persistent foliage to the end of the season. Such 
are the Fulton and McLaughlin, of Maine—the 
Buffum, the Abbott and Knights’ Seedling, of 
Rhode Island—the Andrews, Harvard, and Meriarn, 
press, are introducing fruit culture, from the Cana- 0 f Massachusetts—the Dallas and the Howell, of 
das to Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, Connecticut—the Lawrence, Onondaga and Sheld- 
bringing its numberless enjoyments within the 0D( 0 f jy ew York—the Brandywine, and Kingsoss- 
means of the mosthnmble cottager, and multiply- j n g > 0 f Pennsylvania—the Urbauiste, Beurre d’An- 
ing the luxuries which crown the tables of the opu- j ()U> jioyenne, Boussock, Vicar of Wiuklield, St. 
lent The large, luxurious and abundant fruits in Michael Arehango, Nouveau Poiteau, and last hut 
the State of California, in the Territories of Oregon not least, the Bartlett, of European origin. The 
and Washington, already rival, and, in many instan- latter, which was introduced into Dorchester, 
ces, surpass those of our older States, indeed of the Mass., before the beginning of the present century, 
countries of Europe. and which has borne regular crops of delicious 
Upon these favorable omens I may .well.congrat- fruit for more than fifty yearp, is still vigorous, 
ulate yon; as I certainly do, on the cheering pros¬ 
pects before us. Pomology is yet in its infancy. 
We have but just entered the field which we are to 
cultivate, and gathered a few first fruits.of the boun¬ 
tiful harvest, which encourages and is to reward 
onr endeavors. But, when we reflect upon the suc¬ 
cess which has attended the growth of particular 
hardy, and prolific. 
True, these are not all of exquisite flavor; but 
all of them have valuable qualities. With a proper 
knowledge of the art of ripening, they are very 
usefnl sorts and generally acceptable to the public; 
aud if amateurs who are sometimes in danger of 
being too fastidious, could obtain no other, they 
fruits upon a few acres, under judicious cultivation wou i d pronounce them most excellent kinds. Not 
— upon the obstacles over which science and prac- that we would detract from the cultivated taste, 
PRESIDENT WILDER’3 ADDRESS. 
Gentlemen:— I rise to announce the opening of 
the Seventh Session of our National Association, 
and to perform a service which its Constitution 
devolves upon your presiding officer. Ten years 
have completed their coarse since the organization 
of the American Pomological Society, in this 
commercial emporium. Some who were active in 
its formation, have fulfilled their earthly mission, 
and now rest from their labors. Downing, and 
others, have passed away; but their names are still 
fragrant in our memories; and their works still 
live. May they live forever to enlighten and bless 
their fellow men. While we deplore the loss of 
such men, who devoted their time and genius to 
the cultivation of Rural Taste, and the progress of 
the Rural Arts, we would acknowledge with pro¬ 
found gratitude our obligations to the Supreme 
Arbiter of life, for the preservation of the health 
and life of so many of the founders of this Institu 
tion. He, by his kind Providence, has permitted 
tical skill have already triumphed— upon the in¬ 
dustry, intelligence and enterprise of our people, 
which has been and will continue to be more and 
more devoted to this branch of terraculture—upoD 
the vast amount of our territory equally well 
adapted to fruit culture as that now in use — and 
upon the ever increasing demand for the same, — 
who can predict the future importance of this 
science? who can foretell the extent to which it 
will hereafter contribute to personal and domestic 
comfort, to national wealth and prosperity? And 
can any man doubt whether the assembling of 
these rural comforts around the family mansion 
does not strengthen local attachments and multiply 
the joys of home, whether they promote industrial 
happiness, the love of kindred and country, and 
sweeten the social relations of life? 
Such, gentlemen, is the trust which Providence 
has confided to your care. Such is the magnitude 
of your mission. By your instrumentality, an ex 
tensive and laudable spirit of enterprise has been 
awakened through our own and foreign lauds.— 
The transactions of our last session have been pub 
lished generally by the periodical press of the 
United States. They were also translated and pub¬ 
lished in some of the languages of Europe; and 
your Catalogue has already become a standard in 
American Pomology. This it should he your ob¬ 
ject, at each biennial session, to revise, perfect and 
promulgate, as the best means of preventing those 
numerous impositions and frauds which, we regret 
to say, have been practised upon onr fellow citizens 
by adventurous speculators or ignorant and ua 
scrupulous venders, who sometimes use recom¬ 
mendations, hastily and injudiciously given, or 
surreptitiously obtained, greatly to the injury of the 
purchaser and fruit grower, to the dealer and nur¬ 
seryman, aud to the cause of Pomology. Let us, 
therefore, exercise increased caution as individuals 
and as associates, how we lend our influence to en¬ 
courage the dissemination of new fruits with ex¬ 
travagant pretensions; sovereign remedies for dis¬ 
ease; patented nostrums for the destruction of 
insects; worthless fertilizers; and secret aits of 
cultivation. 
There are many other topics most intimately 
connected with our common cause. On some of 
these subjects it was ray intention to have address¬ 
ed you; but they will no doubt, be discussed daring 
the present sessions of the Society; and then I may 
be indulged with the privilege of expressing a 
personal opinion. I have resolved, however, to de¬ 
vote the few remaining moments which it will he 
proper for me to occupy in this opening address, 
to some suggestions relative to the Peak, one of 
the most important and delicious of our fruits. 
The question has recently been raised and very 
extensively discussed in our public journals, ‘‘Can 
pears he grown for the market ” at a profit ? 
In the progress of this discussion, those who 
have espoused the negative, we fear, have unde- 
signedly, perhaps, awakened distrust as to the suc¬ 
cess and profit of pear culture in onr country; a 
distrust which, if not removed, may prove injuri¬ 
ous to this branch of pomology. Many able, and 
to my mind conclusive replies have been called 
forth, affirming both the feasibility and the profit 
of pear-growing. In consequence of personal de¬ 
votion to this art, and my official relation to you, 
I have been requested by members of this Society 
and other cultivators, to submit the results of my 
study, observation and experience on this subject. 
It is obvious that a similar question may be 
raised in regard to any other branch of terra- 
culture. Where one cultivator succeeds, another 
fails. Why? Not because Providence does not 
which finds its gratification in the delicious 
Seckel, but as a national organization, we are 
sacredly bound to consider the wants of the million 
—the facility and practicability of supplying them. 
Give us pears! the most exquisite sorts, where we 
can grow them—but by all means give ns pears! 
pears for ourselves, for our families, for the mil¬ 
lions who are about us, and who are to come after 
us! 
Another cause of failure in the growth of the 
pear tree, has been a competition tor increasing 
the number of varieties, rather thaa a satisfaction 
with a few of known worth and excellence. With¬ 
in the last twenty-five years, this passion has led to 
large importations of trees from foreign countries, 
of the characteristics and habits of which we have 
not had sufficient knowledge. Duringthis period, 
many of those on onr list for general cultivation 
have been obtained; but to secure these, and satisfy 
ourselves of their excellence, we have been obliged 
to grow a multitude of kinds, which have proved 
inferior and worthless. More than one hundred 
now stand on our list of rejected sorts; and the 
Committee on this class of fruits, I understand, are 
prepared to recommend the expulsion of a still 
greater number. 
Without discouraging the introduction from 
Europe of new varieties for trial, in the hope of 
obtaining valuable sorts, there can be no doubt 
that a prejudice has been created in this country 
against the cultivation of the pear, by the importa¬ 
tion of trees not thoroughly proved by foreign 
nurserymen, which, in far too many instances, have 
not here answered the recommendations given of 
them at home. This has been still further aug¬ 
mented by the frequent heating, and great conse¬ 
quent injury of such trees on the voyage; by their 
sale here at auction to inexperienced cultivators, 
who purchase a medley of worthless sorts and 
damaged trees, in expectation of valuable fruit. 
The diseases of the pear, like those of most 
other fruits, result from definable causes. For 
many of these, we have already acquired sufficient 
knowledge to apply the appropriate remedies; 
and it is to be hoped, with the progress of science, 
we shall ere long tie able to prevent even the blight, 
that fearful destroyer of this tree in some locali 
ties. 
Much has been said against the longevity of the 
pear tree; particularly when grafted on the quince. 
In reference to the latter point, I need only re¬ 
affirm the sentiments contained in my last address, 
and subsequently corroborated by the most dis¬ 
tinguished cultivators.* One of these remarks, 
“My best trees are on the quince. The best fruits 
of our exhibitions are from the quince stock, and 
our profits in fruit raising are from the same 
source. Let others have their own way in stating 
experiments based upon improper or bad manage¬ 
ment, drawing from these unsatisfactory conclu¬ 
sions. By a judicious selection of varieties and 
proper cultivation we shall fill our shelves, and 
walk among our well-shaped pyramids with a bless¬ 
ing for the unknown genius who first tried the 
quince as a stock for the pear, and made, really, 
in pear cultivation, tlie same revolution as steam 
in traveling ” Another gentleman, the editor of 
our oldest horticultural journal, sustains these 
declarations, adding,—“The attempts to write 
down the pear upon the quince stock, are examples 
among a thousand others in the literature of gar¬ 
dening, to assail some of the soundest principles of 
physiological science aud practical art” The ad¬ 
ditional experience daring the last biennial term, 
* 3»e Transaction of Sixth Session, 1856, p. 22. 
confirms my previous convictions of the truthful¬ 
ness of these statements; and such is believed to 
be the sentiment of the best pomologists through¬ 
out. the country. 
Of the longevity of the pear upon its own stock, 
there can be no doubt. In favorable circumstan¬ 
ces, the pear out-iives most other fruit bearing 
trees. Witness the old pear trees on the bleak 
and rock-bound coast, of Puritan New England; on 
the site of the old Dutch Colony; at the mouth 
and along the banks of the Hudson; in the terri¬ 
tory of the ancient French Colony about Detroit, 
and in other places too numerous to he named— 
trees, some of which have flourished from the set¬ 
tlement of the country, and which are at this very 
moment bending with the weight of their golden 
fruit. 
PROFIT OF FEAR CULTURE. 
But the immediate question under consideration 
is, “Can Pears be Grown at a Profit?” We advo¬ 
cate the affirmative, premising that the conditions 
of success to which we have already referred must 
be complied with. This inquiry has been satisfac¬ 
torily answered by pomologists, some of whom I 
am happy to recognize in this assembly, yet the 
responsive facts and arguments deserve to be em¬ 
bodied und published under the sanction of this 
National Assembly. To a record of these as col¬ 
lated from various authorities, so far as they are 
confirmed hy personal observation and experience, 
I now invite your attention: 
The Fruit Growers’ Society of Western New York, com¬ 
posed of gentlemen of deeerved integrity and celebrity, 
some of whom are on this floor, and competent to defend 
their report, furnish the following instances from that 
section of the State: 
Three White Doyenne Pear trees, owned by Mr. Phinney, 
of Canandaigua, one of them small, produce annually fifty 
to sixty dollars worth of fine fruit. 
A tree of the same variety, owned by Judge Howell, of 
same place, seventy years of age, has not failed of a good 
crop for forty years, averaging, for the last twenty years, 
twenty bushels annually, and sold on the tree at sixty 
dollars per year. This tree has produced for the New 
York market, three thousand seven hundred and fifty dol¬ 
lars worth of pears. 
Three large trees owned hy Judge Tavlor, of same kind, 
yielded in 1854, eleven barrels, ami sold for one hundred 
and thirty-seven dollars. 
A young orchard, owned hy Mr. Chapin, of four huu 
dred trees, eight years from planting, which produced, in 
1863. fifteen barrels, selling in New York for four hundred 
and fifty dollars, and, in 1854, fifty barrels, yielding him 
one thousand dollars. 
Similar results have been realized in the State of Mas¬ 
sachusetts. 
William BacoD, of Roxbury, has about one acre devo¬ 
ted to the pear. The oldest trees were planted eighteen 
years since, but more than half within a few years. From 
two trees, the Dix and Beurre Diet, he has realized more 
than one hundred dollars a year, aud for the whole crop, 
over one thou-and dollars a year. 
John Gordon, of Brighton, has three and oue-fourth 
acres in his pear orchard. This was commenced in 1841, 
there being only eight trees on the ground. There are 
now twelve hundred trees, planted in various years, more 
than one-half of which since 1854. The amount received 
for his crop from that date to the present, has been from 
five to six hundred dollars a year, but he remarks, “ If I 
bad confined myself to a judicious selection of varieties, 
it would now bring me two thousand dollars per vear.” 
Wm. R. Austin, of Dorchester, Treasurer of the Mas¬ 
sachusetts Horticultural Society, has an orchard of be¬ 
tween five and six hundred pear trees, mostly on the 
quince root. These trees are about twelve years of age. 
One hundred are Louise Bonne de Jersey’s. They com¬ 
menced bearing about three years after planting, and 
have borne regular crops ever since. They are very 
healthy, and only eight of the whole number have died 
since the orchard was commenced. No account of tho 
crops were kept until the year 1851, but Mr. Austin’s sales 
for the next six years amounted to three thousand four 
hundred and eight dollars. 
The Messrs. Ilovey's, of Cambridge, have a very large 
collection of bearing pear trees. From two rows, two 
hundred and tea trees, grafted on the quince, the crop has 
amounted, some years, to twenty-live barrels. 
John Ilenshaw, of Cambridge, planted about an acre of 
land, principally with pears, on the quince. On the fifrh 
year thereafter, he gathered one hundred and twenty 
bushels of pears, seventy bushels of which he sold at five 
to six dollars per bushel. 
A BulTum pear tree at Worcester, belonging to Mr. Earle, 
yields annually from thirty to forty dollars worth of pears. 
Mr. Pond, of the pame city, planted in 1850, three hun¬ 
dred and fifty Bartlett pear trees, one year old from the 
hud. In 1867, he sold from the these trees, fifty bushels 
of pears, at five dollars per bushel, or two hundred and 
fifty dollars for the crop. 
Similar instances of success, in these and in other 
States, might be multiplied, if time would permit, to 
prove the age, health, and profit of the pear tree. So 
deep has the conviction of this truth become, and so uni¬ 
form the success, that instead of planting trees as in 
former times, by the single tree or the dozen, cultivators 
now plant orchards of hundreds and thousands, in firm 
and reasonable expectations of large income. 
Such facts are conclusive, and ought to rectify 
the false theories which have been advanced on 
this subject. But it may be objected, that these 
arc instances of success developed by accidental 
adaptation of kinds, of soil or climate; that such 
results are neither uniform or common; in a word, 
that there are counter facts sufficient to justify an 
opposite conclusion, and therefore to sustain the 
opinion that pears cannot be made a reliable and 
profitable crop. 
While I distinctly recognize here as in every other 
branch of terra-culture, what are called occasional 
revulsions of nature, resulting from sudden alterna¬ 
tions of temperature and other causes, yet I desire 
publicly to record as the result of long observation 
aud experience, that I have never known an in¬ 
stance of failure, which on examination was not 
attributable to an improper selection of varieties, 
or to injudicious cultivation. In harmony with 
this judgment is believed to be the sentiment, of 
the best pomologists in this country. Therefore I 
am constrained to regard success as the general 
law of cultivation in this, an is every other de 
partment of this science; as truly with the pear as 
with tho apple. 
What if we have instanced hut a few cases, and 
named but a few varieties? They illustrate our 
argument. If the Bartlett in Massachusetts, the 
Buffum in Rhode Island, and sorts equally success¬ 
ful in other States, have Dot failed of an annual 
crop from twenty-five to fifty years, surely the pro 
duct of the pear "is not only as reliable as any other 
crop, but even more so. To these and other ap¬ 
proved sorts which we now possess, we are con¬ 
stantly making additions by hybridization and 
other arts. What if at this time there are but a 
limited number of such varieties, enterprise and 
experience are rapidly multiplying them, and it is 
the particular province of this Society to dispense 
them through onr land. 
What if pomology, as a science, is comparatively 
of recent date; what if our knowledge of vegetable 
physiology generally is very limited? What if the 
various sorts of fruit trees do require different sys¬ 
tems of pruning and cultivation, facts now gene¬ 
rally conceded by experienced men? The laws 
which govern such treatment, and which, with the 
ordiuaiy exceptions, insure a crop, are as certain 
as any other scientific principles. Our mission is 
to investigate these laws, to settle the characteris¬ 
tics of each variety; to ascertain what soil is best 
adapted for supplying its appropriate food; to learn 
how and when it, should he pruned, and to discover 
the best method of cultivation. 
Thus far we have spoken principally of the pear. 
But much of what we have said is equally applica¬ 
ble to other fruits. The great duty which we would 
enforce, and which every pomologist owes to him¬ 
self and to this science is, 
“To study culture, aud with artful toil, 
To till and fertilize the stubborn soil; 
To give dissimilar, yet fruitful lands, 
The tree, the vine, the plant that each demands.” 
Onr reasoning applies peculiarly to the grape.— 
I hail with great pleasure the wide-spread interest 
of cultivators in producing new and choice varie¬ 
ties of this fruit, which, ere long, will pat us in 
possession of kinds not inferior to the best Euro¬ 
pean sorts. On this subject I had hoped td enlarge 
at this time, and to have shown its importance, as 
a means of increasing individual and national 
wealth. The time is within the recollection of 
some present when our first native grapes were 
brought into cultivation, as the Catawba and Isa¬ 
bella. These are now so common in some sec¬ 
tions, that any man, if he chooses, may sit beneath 
his own vine and pluck its rich clusters. Honor 
to the memory of those who introduced these valu¬ 
able sorts! Saccess to those who are multiplying 
new and improved varieties from them! We know 
gentlemen in Massachusetts who have thousands of 
seedlings under cultivation. The same may be 
said of other sections of our fair land; and the day 
is fast approaching when from our eastern to our 
western shores, the tops and slopes of our hills 
shall be covered with clusters richer than those of 
Eschol, and, like them, giving assurance of a land 
of promise. May that day soon come, when our 
markets shall vie with those of Italy, Sicily and 
other grape-growing countries, where this luscious 
fruit is not only a luxury for the opulent, but the 
food of the humblest peasant. 
What an inviting field of labor does the science 
of pomology present! Onr country vast in extent, 
containing every variety of soil and climate, fast 
filling up with an intelligent and enterprising pop¬ 
ulation, is already a pioneer in other useful arts, 
and is doubtless destined to sustain a correspond¬ 
ing superiority in the cultivation of fruit. The 
cause we seek to advance, will ere long adorn her 
hills and vales with the choicest fruits of earth, 
aud tune to grateful lays, the voice of happy mil¬ 
lions who shall succeed us. These blessings were 
designed to please the eye and gratify the taste, to 
multiply the comforts and elevate the social aud 
moral condition of man. Emits were the primi¬ 
tive food of our lust parents, and for aught we 
know, their only food in L’arudise. Fruits have 
too often been considered the condiments and not 
tho necessaries of life—but “man does not live by 
bread alone,”—and the more we use them, the more 
we shall approach a refined and healthful temper¬ 
ament both of body and of mind. It is, therefore, 
our duty, as benefactors of our race, to develop 
these wonderful resources of our land, and to in¬ 
crease them to their utmost extent. 
And how delightful is the employment of the 
pomologist, going forth among his well-trained 
trees, 
“ To visit how they prosper, buil and bloom.” 
His love is always young and fresh, ever approach¬ 
ing them with keener relish and increased affec¬ 
tion. They, in return, recompensing every kind 
attention, “clap their hands for joy,” and like 
those flowers of Paradise touched by the lair hund 
of Eve, more gladly grow. 
This art is second to no other in rank, in utility, 
and pleasure. No calling is more consonant with 
the refinement and happiness of a rational being; 
none better calculated to develop tho purest senti¬ 
ments of our moral nature. “ The garden,” says 
Lord Bacon, “ is the greatest refreshment to the 
spirits of man, without which buildings and pal¬ 
aces are but gross handiworks.” “Nothing,”said 
the immortul Webster, “ is too polished to see its 
beauty, nothing too refined to be capable of its en¬ 
joyment. It attracts, gratifies and delights alL It 
is a constant field where all sexes and agee, where 
every degree of taste and refinement may find op¬ 
portunity for gratification.” So thought Cyrus of 
Persia, when he boasted that he planted his treeo- 
withhisown hands; so Pliny, when he gloried that 
a Roman cherry was named in honor of his family; 
so Solomon, guided by Divine wisdom, made for 
himself as a source of his purest pleasure, “ gar¬ 
dens and orchards, and planted trees of all kinds 
of fruits.” So Dioclesian, sated with the highest 
honors of regal-power, when he wrote to Maximi- 
an, “ Were you to come to Salona and see the fruits 
which I cultivate with my own hands, you would 
no longer talk to me of empire.” So say we and 
all others, who, having retired from the thorough¬ 
fares of the busy mart, and from the conflicts of 
political ambition, have drank from these pure 
fountains of social joy, and eaten these ambrosial 
fruits of rural life. 
No wonder then that the praises of this pursuit 
have been celebrated in prose and verse; from the 
humblest peasant to the highest potentate; from 
the heathen mythologist to the sweet Psalmibt of 
Israel. 
From scenes in the garden, from Eden to Geth- 
semane, have been drawn the most exalted and 
sublime conceptions, the most sacred and divine 
communings that have ever moved the human 
heart. The good Wilberforce, long after he was 
unable to walk, was drawn daily in his carriage to 
his favorite grounds, where he could commune 
with his Creator and admire the beauty and glory 
of his works. “I am,” said he, “very fond of the 
garden. The corn and vegetables I look upon as 
the bounties of Providence, but the fruits and 
flowers as his smile.” This sentiment animates 
the breast of childhood, grows with our growth, 
and strengthens with advancing years: 
“ Maintains its hold with such unfailing sway, 
We feel it e’en in age, and at our latest day.” 
The more I investigate the laws of vegetable 
physiology, the more I am filled with wonder and 
reverence at the benevolent provisions of nature— 
at tho instructive lessons which she teaches. Our 
trees—from the opening bud to the golden harvest, 
—from the laying off of their gay autumnal livery, 
and during their rest in winter’s shroud, waiting a 
resurrection to a new and superior life, are all elo¬ 
quent preachers, proclaiming to our inmost soul, 
“ The hand that made us is Divine.” 
Taught by their counsels, who does not admire 
the wisdom, perfection and beauty of this fair cre¬ 
ation! The tiny hud, encased in coatR of mail so 
that the rude blasts may not visit it too roughly, 
rivalling in its mechanism the human eye, and des¬ 
tined to perpetuate its own species distinctive as 
the soul of man!— the enamelled blossom, unfold¬ 
ing her virgin bosom to the warm embrace of ver¬ 
nal air, bespangling the orchard with starry spray 
scarcely less beautiful than the glittering host 
above, dancing in rainbow lines, and flinging on 
the breeze a fragrance richer than the spices of 
Ceylon’s Isles; sweet harbinger of bountiful har¬ 
vest!— the lucious fruits, God’s best gift to maD, 
save woman—the melting pear, rough or polished 
rind, with sweetest honiea flavor—the burnished 
apple, tempting human taste from the mother of 
our race to her last fair daughter—the royal grape, 
clustering beneath its bower of greeD, making glad 
the heart of man—the brilliant cherry, suffused with 
with loveliest tints of rose and white or dyed in 
deepest incarnadine—the velvet peach, mantled 
with beauty’s softest blush and. vicing with the 
oriency of the morning—the delicious plum, veiled 
with silvery bloom, over robes of azure, purple, or 
cloth of vegetable gold! But what imagination 
can conceive, what pencil sketch the changing 
hues, the varied magnificence and glory, when 
Pomona pours from her overflowing lap, the ripen¬ 
ed treasures of the year! These, all these, are 
original designs, such as the genius of a Corregio, 
a Claude Lorraine, and the oldest masters could 
only imitate. 
Here are creations, originally pronounced very 
good. Here, are inexhaustible sources of pleasure, 
beauties which fade only to appear again. Here 
“life flows pure, the heart more calmly beats.”— 
Here, like the foliage and fruit falling from trees 
of favorite care, the true pomologist, after a well- 
spent day, lies down to rest in the hope of a fairer 
to morrow—in the glorious hope of partaking of 
the fruit of that tree, which “yieldeth its fruit 
every month, and whose leaves are for the healing 
of the nations.” 
In onr next we will give a report of the discus¬ 
sion, varieties of fruit recommended for general 
cultivation, list of officers, &c. 
To Correspondents. —For a week or two, details 
of the transactions of the National Pomological 
Society will require considerable space thus pre¬ 
venting onr furnishing the nsnal variety of matter. 
We have many “good things,” however, and they 
shall be spread before our readers in due season. 
