348 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
which commands from two to five dollars a bushel in 
market:— 
“ Eighteen hundred dollars have been received by a 
single fanner in this vicinity, for a single season’s crop 
of this plum.” (p. 300.) 
The frauds of dishonest nurserymen are occasionally 
mentioned; an instance of which is given by the notice 
of the “ Tobacco-leaved cherry,” sold under the impo¬ 
sing name of “Four to the 'pound ,” which would make 
the cherries about twice the size of common hen's eggs. 
The leaves of this variety are very large and coarse, and 
thus well calculated to facilitate the fraud, but the fruit 
is very small; hard-fleshed, with a large stone, and of 
inferior flavor. 
Under the description of the Monarch pear, considered 
by T. A. Knight with whom it originated, as superior to 
all others, are the following remarks:-— 
“ By some unlucky error, Mr. Knight transmitted to 
this country, and disseminated partially in England, seve¬ 
ral years ago, grafts of a worthless sort, for this fine 
pear, which in no way resembled it. The false sort 
was pretty largely propagated and distributed before the 
error was discovered.” * * * “ Mr. Knight was deep¬ 
ly mortified at this accidental error, and is said to have 
remarked, that he would gladly have sacrificed £10,000 
rather than it should have occurred. Would that some 
nurserymen were as conscientious!” And hence the 
importance of propagating for sale or general distribu¬ 
tion such fruits only as have been well proved from 
bearing trees, without depending merely on the authori¬ 
ty of others. 
In another place the author truly remarks, “ Some 
nurserymen here, we regret to say, do not scruple to fill 
large catalogues with the names of varieties which have 
no corresponding existence in their grounds.” 
Those who have largely disseminated the numerous 
foreign pears lately introduced in our country, before a 
thorough trial of their qualities and fitness for the cli¬ 
mate, should receive a caution from the following fact: 
“ The most successful cultivator of pears in this coun¬ 
try, whose collection comprises hundreds of varieties, 
lately assured us that if he were asked to name all the 
sorts that he considered of unvarying and unquestionable 
excellence in all respects, he could not count more than 
twenty V’ The author very justly adds, however, “ It 
may then be asked, why do all cultivate so large a va¬ 
riety. We answer, because the quality of many is yet 
not fully decided; again, there is a great difference in 
taste, as to the merits of a given sort; there are also 
some sorts so productive or handsome, &c., that they 
are highly esteemed, though only second rate. In a 
work like the present, we are also obliged to describe 
many sorts of second quality, in order to assist in identi¬ 
fying them, as they are already in general cultivation.” 
In ripening winter pears, some care and skill are re¬ 
quired. A want of this has induced some cultivators to 
reject as worthless some truly fine varieties. The fol¬ 
lowing directions are given:— 
“ Winter dessert pears should be allowed to hang on 
the tree as long as possible, until the nights become 
frosty. They should then be wrapped separately in pa¬ 
per, packed in kegs, barrels, or small boxes, and placed in 
a cool, dry room, free from frost. Some varieties, as 
the D’Aremberg, will ripen freely with no other care 
than placing them in barrels in the cellar, like apples. 
But most kinds of the finer winter dessert pears should be 
brought into a warm apartment for a couple of weeks 
before the usual season of maturity. They should be 
kept covered, to prevent shrivelling. Many sorts that 
are comparatively tough if ripened in a cold apartment, 
become very melting, buttery, and juicy, when allowed 
to mature in a room, kept at the temperature of 60 or 
70 degrees.” 
Bone Manure. —R. M. Bailey says in the American 
Agriculturist, that some of the most extensive farmers of 
Long Island, use annually from 500 to 1000 bushels of 
ground bones on their lands, applying it at the rate of 35 
to 56 bushels per acre; and that some of the poorest farms 
have thus been made fertile and productive, within the 
last fifteen years. 
FARM OF J. F. SHEAFE. 
In August last we had the pleasure of making a call at 
this fine farm, which is called High Cliff!, and is situated 
in the town of Poughkeepsie. It appears that it has re¬ 
ceived the first premium from the Dutchess county Agri¬ 
cultural Society as the best cultivated farm in the county. 
We are not surprised at this, for though our examination 
of it was necessarily hasty, we could not fail to observe 
(he evidences of good management which are so con¬ 
spicuous. The following extract from the report of the 
committee which awarded the premium referred to, will 
give a more just view of the farm than we are able to 
furnish from our hasty visit. We would call particular at¬ 
tention to the exactness with which all the operations on 
Mr. Sheafe’s farm are recorded—a plan which we wish 
might be generally adopted. 
The committee through their chairman, cannot let the 
opportunity pass of expressing their pleasure andapproba- 
tion of the high state of cultivation, and many improve¬ 
ments they witnessed on this farm. It consists of 230 acres, 
divided into 13 lots by substantial stone walls, with lanes 
leading to each lot, and gates hung in the most substantial 
manner; all the hedgerows, elders, &c., along the fences, 
carefully extirpated, and no weeds to be seen; all the loose 
stones carefullypicked up and laid in walls ; the land ap¬ 
peared to be in a high state of cultivation, and well seeded 
and manured. Lime has been used with good effect as a ma¬ 
nure, also horn shavings, muck, barn-yard manure, &c. 
“ The farm buildings were in excellent order, and could 
not but excite the admiration of the committee. The cow 
stables, are excellently arranged, the name of each cow 
being placed over her separate stall, where she can en¬ 
joy her food without being annoyed by her neighbors, 
and she being sheltered from the storms of winter, and 
being carefully bedded with straw, the manure is saved 
from being leeched by rains. The committee would 
recommend the stabling of cattle to all farmers, (the sta¬ 
bles can be made less expensive than these) as a great 
saving of fodder, manure, &c., adds to the comfort of the 
cattle, and they believe in a very short time would repay 
the farmer for the expense of a shed. 
“ The barns and sheds appear to be very conveniently 
arranged, being placed on the side of a knoll, and the hay, 
&c., pitched in the windows of the sheds. 
ei Mr. Sheafe has been erecting a superior hay press 
which appeared to be made in the most substantial man¬ 
ner. He has also an office erected near his farm build¬ 
ings, where his farmer keeps a set of books, being a 
journal of every day’s work, the expense of every field 
and crop; the age, pedigree, &c., of all the stock. In 
the office is a platform scale to weigh every thing neces¬ 
sary ; also a map of the farm, containing the quantity of 
land in each field, each lot being numbered and surveyed. 
Indeed the old adage, “a place for everything, and every 
thing in its place,” appeared to be verified here. The 
piggery also appeared well adapted to its purpose, well 
filled with old and young porkers. The farm house and 
dairy cellar appeared excellent and well arranged. 
“ The Committee were shown some beautiful farming 
implements, among them a subsoil plow to break up the 
hard pan in heavy land, following the common plow, 
also other plows. All of them appeared well adapted 
for the work to be done—a plaster sower ; straw and root 
culter, &c. 
“ This farm is used principally for grazing. The Com¬ 
mittee were shown a beautiful herd of improved short 
horns, well adapted either for the dairy or the shambles; 
also a flock ot Southdown sheep. It would take too 
much time to mention everything worthy of note. This 
farm has been under the management of Mr. James H. 
Lawson, for a number of years, and too much credit can¬ 
not be awarded him for the skill and judgment shown 
in everything appertaining to the farm.” 
Birds vs. Insects. —The north of France is distin 
guished by a deficiency of trees and hedge-rows and af¬ 
fords consequently but little shelter for birds. The ef¬ 
fect is as obvious as it is injurious, and destructive insects, 
unchecked by their natural enemies, commit extensive 
ravages. 
