526 WISCONSIN FRUIT-GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION. 
one side of a tree, when it will not on the other, and the destruc¬ 
tion of the bark on the sunny side is probably the result of al¬ 
ternate freezing and thawing, and not by rupturing the cells, as 
is generally supposed, but by destroying their vitality. A hay 
band twisted round the stems of tender varieties may be found 
useful. 
Of pears I have tried about twelve varieties, several on the 
quince, and have not a useful tree left. Two trees of Flemish 
Beauty on pear stocks, were the pride of my orchard. They 
branched about 18 inches from the ground, and formed natur¬ 
ally beautiful, well-balanced, pyramidal heads. In the spring 
of 1856, I found the young wood was injured, but not killed; 
next spring more than half the branches were dead. But even 
as regards the pear, there seems to be some ground for hope. 
Oswego Beurre and Steven’s Genesee, are reported by Mr. 
De Neveu, to have borne fair crops in the neighborhood of 
Fond du Lac, but of several seedlings, I have one which has 
hitherto shown no signs of injury from frost. 
I would here venture to suggest whether it would not be with¬ 
in the province of the Association to obtain seeds, next year, 
if too late for this, of the best of Mr. De Neveu’s pears, and 
of the finest fruit of the best seedlings raised by Mr. Moses 
M. Strong, and place them in the hands of individuals in differ¬ 
ent parts of the State, who are likely to appreciate the impor¬ 
tance of an united and extensive effort being made to obtain 
new and improved varieties, better adapted to this climate. 
Cherries have not succeeded with me much better than pears. 
The winter of 1855-6 killed Black Tartarian, Downer’s Late 
Red, and Knight’s Early Black. The last two kinds had grown 
well and made handsome trees. Yellow Spanish died the fol¬ 
lowing winter. The old May Duke yet lives. Both of my 
trees, however, were injured especially by the winter of 1856-7. 
The bark of the stem split on one side, and the wood, where 
exposed, seems dead. The wounds are being rapidly closed up 
by the formation of new wood. The trees grew vigorously last 
season, and produced fair crops of fruit for the birds’ especial 
