162 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
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CULTIVATION OF FRUIT.—No. V. 
THE PEAR. 
The varieties of the pear are propagated by budding 
and grafting. The compactness of the wood renders the 
latter very successful. The stocks are raised either from 
seeds or suckers. But suckers do not always form good 
roots, and should only be employed when seedlings can¬ 
not be had. Seedlings are greatly improved by trans¬ 
planting at one or two years of age; cutting off the lower 
extremity of the tap root, at the time causes them to 
throw out lateral ones, and renders their final removal 
from the nursery more easy and safe. 
As a general rule, pears should be grafted or budded 
on pear stocks. On the apple, thorn and quince, their 
fruitfulness is much increased, but the duration of the life 
of the tree is greatly diminished. The same cause which 
produces an accumulation of the elaborated juices in the 
branches, and consequently an increase of flower buds, 
and of fruit, also prevents the proper diffusion of the sap 
and secretions, and shortens the life of the tree. There 
are however several advantages of employing such stocks 
in certain cases. 
One of the most important of these is the production 
of dwarfs. These are chiefly desirable in small gardens 
and on very limited grounds. The quince stock is com¬ 
monly used for this purpose. But as the quince is very 
liable to be destroyed by the borer, an improvement to 
remedy this evil has been introduced lately into practice. 
The quince is first grafted on a pear stock, and the year 
after the pear is grafted on the quince shoot thus produ¬ 
ced, about an inch above the previous insertion. The 
wood of the quince is thus made to form a portion of the 
trunk, by which the circulation is obstructed, and increa 
sed productiveness and diminished growth produced. A 
method, adopted by French gardeners, of training these 
dwarfs so as still further to increase their fruitfulness and 
diminish the space they occupy, as well as to add stri 
kingly to the neatness of their appearance, is what is 
termed quenouille training. A single stem is suffered to 
run to a height of about seven feet, leaving branches at 
regular distances from bottom to top, about eighteen 
inches long. These are brought into a pendent position 
by bending them downwards as they grow, and confining 
them to this position by shreds of bass until they become 
fixed. The tree w r ill throw out many more shoots than 
are necessary; these must be pruned off, leaving only the 
most vigorous. The circulation is impeded and their 
luxuriance checked, and consequently the production of 
fruit increased. Trees thus trained, need not occupy a 
tenth part of the space allotted to common standards. 
Some varieties, too, are much improved in quality by 
grafting on the quince. This is the case with the Duch- 
esse d’Angouleme and some others of great excellence, 
which are said to be of only second-rate quality when on 
pear stocks. 
Pear trees, on account of their upright, pyramidal 
growth, require much less space than apples. Twenty 
feet distance is sufficient in all cases. 
The following are some of the best varieties of the 
pear, which have either originated in this country, or 
have been proved here and found adapted to the cli¬ 
mate. 
SUMMER FRUIT. 
Amire Joannet. Fruit quite small, good but not first 
rate; a great bearer, ripening often two weeks before 
wheat harvest. Chiefly valuable for its early maturity. 
The Primitive or Little musk, is smaller, inferior in fla¬ 
vor, and about a week later, but in othei respects resem¬ 
bles the Amire Joannet. 
Madeleine. A week or two later than the preceding; 
of good size, and delicious melting flesh and fine flav or. 
A sub-variety, slightly inferior in quality, has less of the 
peculiar greenish color of the skin, and is destitute of the 
pleasant and just perceptible degree of acid which mark 
the true variety. 
Skinless. Ripens the early part of 8th month, (Aug.) 
fruit medial size, weet, juicy and good, hardly first rate, 
>ut its good qualities remain unchanged through all sea- 
'vns, and it is a great and constant bearer. 
Dearborn's Seedling. Medial size, of fine and delicate 
texture and flavor, melting and very good. It ripens the 
middle and latter part of 8th month, with the Julienne, a 
variety not equal to it in quality, but excelling in the 
abundance of its crops while the tree is yet very young. 
AUTUMN FRUIT. 
Washington. Ripens soon after Dearborn's Seedling, 
of medial size, of sweet and delicious flavor. Decidedly 
a first rate fruit. 
Summer Bon Chretien (or September.) Fruit large and 
beautiful^ very sweet, juicy and rich. Considered by ma¬ 
ny as equal to the best of pears. It ripens nearly with 
the Washington. 
Seckel. Well known as a fruit of unequalled richness 
of flavor, and though small, and the tree of slow growth, 
it should be in every collection. 
Urbaniste. Large, excellent, ripening late in autumn, 
too sour for some palates, but of decided excellence. 
Virgalieu. Known as the St. Michael of New-England, 
the Butter pear of Pennsylvania, and by more than twen¬ 
ty other names. It is erroneously called the Virgoulouse 
by some writers, but the latter name belongs to quite a 
distinct fruit. In most parts of New-York it is well 
known as a fruit of great excellence. 
WINTER FRUIT. 
Little attention has been given in this country to the 
cultivation of winter pears, and their quality and adapta¬ 
tion not thorougly ascertained. The Passe Colmar, Eas¬ 
ter Beurre, and some others, however, have been found 
very fine. But much care is required in ripening, other¬ 
wise they prove worthless. They are to be kept in a 
cool place till near the time of maturity, and then brought 
into a warm room, with a temperature as high as 70 deg. 
Fall, when they soon acquire a fine flavor. Late autumn 
and winter pears of first quality have been rejected by 
some cultivators as unfit for eating, from the simple fact 
that they were allowed to ripen in the cold. 
The effects of temperature and other external influen¬ 
ces, on many varieties of the pear, render their quality 
exceedingly variable with the seasons. The Frederick 
de JVurtemburg has fruited for a few years past in West¬ 
ern New-York, and was generally considered fully equal 
if not superior to any foreign variety; but the past sea¬ 
son proving unusually wet and cold, the fruit, though 
fine in appearance, was found to be tasteless and worth¬ 
less. But when taken from the tree and ripened in a 
warm room, the quality proved excellent. This expedi¬ 
ent, however, will not always answer, as in case of the 
Bezi de la Motte and some others, which are sometimes 
delicious, but usually of no value whatever. Several in¬ 
stances were civen by the late Robert Manning in Ho- 
vev's Magazine, of pears which one year were melting 
and high flavored, and the next so insipid as to be at once 
rejected as perfectly worthless. 
Those varieties which continue unchanged in their ex¬ 
cellence, through all weathers und seasons, as the Made¬ 
leine, Skinless, Summer Bon Chretien, Seckel, Virgalieu , 
and others, possess not only eminent advantages, but give 
more promise of general adaptation to (he varying cir¬ 
cumstances of the different localities of the country. 
The pear tree is of longer life than most other fruit 
trees. In the Genesee Farmer, vol. 3, p. 38, is a notice 
,of a tree probably *200 years old. The celebrated tree 
! probably still standing at the corner of Third Avenue and 
Thirteenth street, New-York, in a bearing state, was 
planted by Governor Stuyvesant more than 200 years ago. 
The only formidable disease to which the pear is subject, 
is the Fire Blight. This generally makes its appearance 
during the early part of summer. The branches affected 
by it suddenly turn black and die. If the disease is not 
checked, it frequently, but not always, extends and de 
stroys the whole tree. It has been ascribed to different 
causes. Observations prove that, at least in some instan 
ces, it is prodneed by a small insect, ( Scolytus pyri of 
| Peck.) which eats a small circular ring round the branch 
beneath the outer bark, and thus destroys it. The insect, 
where discovered, has been some inches below the affect¬ 
ed part. But sometimes no insect can be found. The 
writer has carefully stripped diseased branches, and even 
whole trees of their bark, and on the closest examination 
has detected nothing. This absence of external injury 
