346 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Nov. 
escapes into the house; as it cools, it falls, passes in 
at 2, to the air chamber, is warmed over again, and 
thus a perpetual circulation is kept up. The house 
can be heated just as readily by flue orittiot water 
passing around under the front shelf, but should be 
sufficiently low, so as not to interfere with the walks. 
The cost of such a house, ^lain and strong, ought 
not to be more than 300 dollars; and fixed with orna¬ 
ments, to suit the style of dwelling house, certainly 
not over $350 to $400. Edgar Sanders, gr. to J. F. 
Rathbone, Washington st., Albany. 
Pomological Meetings. 
Informal meetings for the discussion of subject-s con¬ 
nected with fruit culture, were held for twcf evenings, 
during the recent State Pair at Saratoga Springs, and 
much interesting information was communicated. 
First Evening. — Cracking of the Pear, —The 
subject of the cracking of the pear was introduced, and 
a number of gentlemen present were unanimous in stat¬ 
ing that in New-England and in other places where the 
cracking had generally destroyed the White Doyenne, 
(or Virgalieu,) this variety had entirely escaped when 
propagated on the quince. The only exception was 
mentioned by A. Saul of Newbhrgh, where it is usual¬ 
ly quite fair, but during the present season of extraor¬ 
dinary rains, it had cracked badly, and alike on both 
quince and pear. E. W. Leavenworth of Syracuse, 
said fhat of the thousands of bearing trees of that 
place, none had ever cracked except those brought 
from Long-Island ; hence the inference that-the disease 
was mainly from a constitutional condition of the stock 
or variety—most others, however, inclined to the opin¬ 
ion that this disaster results from a peculiarity of the 
season. The present year it had been more prevalent 
than usual; A. Saul stated that all his early pears 
were fine, and the late ones much inj ured ; the first part 
of the season being favorable, and the latter excessive¬ 
ly we£ Cases were mentioned, however, where the in¬ 
fluence of soil had contributed to the same result, in 
trees dissimilarly affected in the same immediate 
neighborhood, subjected alike to every peculiarity of 
the season. 
The opinion was expressed by a number present, that 
the cracking of fruit results from the same cause that 
produces leaf blight on the tree ; and several instances 
were mentioned where the cracking had commenced 
first on the lower parts of the tree, where the leaves 
had been correspondingly attacked. 
Select lists— It was proposed that such gentlemen 
present as were familiar with the best varieties of the 
pear, should furnish a list of the three best, or such as 
they would plant the most largely for their own use. 
The Seckel, Bartlett and Virgalieu , (or Doyenne,) 
were selected by P. Barry of Rochester, E. W. Leav¬ 
enworth of Syracuse, and T. C. Maxwell, of Gene¬ 
va. J. J. Thomas of Macedon, named Flemish Beauty , 
Seckel ■ and Virgalieu ; J. Battey of Clinton county, 
preferred Louise Bonne of Jersey , Flemish Beauty 
and Winkfield. Dr. Wendell of Albany, and A. j 
Saul of Newburgh, would choose Seckel and Bartlett , 
and would add the Virgalieu or (Doyenne,) provided it 
should still continue to do as well as in years past. It 
thus appears, that of the seven votes given, site were 
for the Seckel, six for the Virgalieu, five for the Bart¬ 
lett, two for the Flemish Beauty and one for the Wink- 
field. 
The smallness of size having been stated as an ob¬ 
jection to the Seckel, one gentleman remarked that a 
tree on his grounds, which had been uncultivated, had 
borne such small fruit as is usually seen; the present 
year it had been well tilled, (without much manure,) 
with an increase in the size of the crop, and a three¬ 
fold increase in the size of the fruit—many of the spe¬ 
cimens being quite as large as an ordinary Virgalieu. 
The opinion was given by several that the Seckel had 
not been allowed a fair chance in ordinary manage¬ 
ment, and that with high culture, its fruit would he 
much heavier and finer. 
Fire Blight. —E. W. Leavenworth had found the 
fast growing sorts of the pear, and those stimulated 
with high manuring, much more liable to blight than 
those with short, compact wood ; and that the disaster 
usually occurred during the prevalence of the hottest 
weather; which was in accordance with the observa¬ 
tions of several others. 
Profits of Fruit Culture. —This subject being 
introduced, some statements were made of the large 
profits derived from the culture of the Lady Apple . 
W. H. Denning of Dutchess county, had annually sold 
forty dollars worth of fruit from a single tree, the price 
varying from eight to twelve dollars per bushel. The 
soil was gravelly. On soils of a different character the 
crop had been quite unsuccessful. One gentleman had 
picked ten barrels from his frees, and found only two 
barrels fair, the least blemish entirely spoiling the sale 
of a fancy fruit. Another gentleman stated that from 
an orchard in Orange county, out of five barrels he had 
not obtained a single hatful of good specimens. Dr. 
Ward said that in New-Jersey it succeeded well on 
gravelly loam, which was generally admitted to be its 
best soil. Information was given of the large profits 
of an orchard at Darley, near Philadelphia, containing 
200 trees, and occupying four acres of land. The ave¬ 
rage annual nett profit was 800 dollars, or 200 dollars 
per acre. The soil of the orchard is constantly culti¬ 
vated in crops, with the application of bone dust, and 
it is regarded as one of the neatest and best specimens 
of orchard culture in the state. 
The high price of this apple depends entirely on the 
demand for it in cities for fashionable evening parties, 
which is far greater than the supply. American grown 
Lady Apples also command a very high price for the 
same object in London. The opinion was however ex¬ 
pressed, that as it is not a fruit of the highest charac¬ 
ter and value, and the fashion may not always contin¬ 
ue in its favor, it would he unsafe to plant it largely, 
or exclusively for market. 
Profits ofiJPear Culture. —It was stated by a gen¬ 
tleman present that Martin Smith of Tarry town, had 
sold 600 dollars worth of Virgalieu pears, (at $4 per 
bushel,) from less than an acre, besides nearly $100 
