Newspaper Page Text
[Written for the Southern Field end Flreeide.]
AGRICULTURAL LETTERS FROM HANCOCK
BY AN OLD MESIHF.E OF THE FLAVTEES' CU B.
Ilorizontalizing — Anecdote — A Plantation Skinned
— B. S. Hardwick, Esq.—Hill Side Ditching.
Under the composting system, our planters
first began to realize the necessity of preserving
their lands from washing rains, which are so
peculiar to this climate. They felt that it was a
poor business to spend so much time in making
manures,* and hauling them out on hill-sides,
when a single rain might come, that would carry
more of the substance of the land into the
branches and creeks below, than they could re
supply in a twelve month. Horizontal plow
ing was the first step of progress made in this
direction. We do not know who originated the
idea, but he deserves much credit for it; as doubt
less, the whole after improvements in hill-side
ditching and level culture sprang from this
thing. Forty years ago, a few farmers in Mid
dle Georgia were laughed at for their eccentrici
ties in plowing their lands around, instead of up
and down the hills; but even these were planted
in direct lines, and most generally in the hill.
The drilling system sprang up soon after, and,
finally, planting horizontally, as well as plowing;
though the whole system was very imperfect, as
the eye had to answer the place of the level,
which, as yet, was an instrument unknown to
our agriculturists.
A number of old Virginia planters settling in
Hancock about this period brought with them
some of the notions prevalent in the Old Domin
ion about the improvement of lands. Among
these, we have reason to believe, was the notion
of conveying water around hill-sides in graded
drains, so as to prevent such immense gullies, as
disfigured so many of the old plantations.—
Years after, two of these old planters who lived
in the northern part of the county, the venerable
George Rives and JohnS. Berry, Esq., met in the
streets of Sparta, and were conversing on the
progress made in hill-side ditching especially.
Mr. Berry appealed to his neighbor Rives to
prove that he was the first man who had ever
used a hill-side ditch in Hancock. “Yes,” said
Mr. Rives, “but, by blood I” (a phrase common
with him,) “you throw the dirt up hill.”
This anecdote seems to show how imperfect
were the improvements of that day, when com
pared with the present. In our occasional rides
on the Oconee, we see the landmarks in many
old worn out fields, of the crude and imperfect
notions entertained in that day of hill-side ditch
ing. Some of them having an idea of symmetry,
and, we suppose, that their com or cotton rows
might run ki a direct line, had their ditches been
perfectly straight, or varying but little. Under
this plan, larger gullies were made, if possible,
than under the old plan. We have in our mind
two old plantations in this section of the coun
try —one treated in this way, and one on the old
skinning system. The soil is better preserved
on the former; but tho gullies are deeper and
larger. The plantation so badly skinned is the
most miserable specimen we have ever seen of
the kind. The owner, refusing any of the im
provements tendered by science, iu the way of
hill-side ditching, or level culture, has continued
to plow up and down the hills, until tho soil is
nearly all gone, and the land refuses to “ repay
the tiller’s toil.” We verily believe it will take
a half century for the stunted growth of pine and
hawthorns that begin to appear in places turned
out, to recuperate this soil; and, the worst of it
is, that the owner never got a moiety of the
strength from the land, in cotton, com, and beef,
but plowed it up, to be washed away, and help
to muddy the already turbid Oconee, after every
freshet.
So imperfect were the plans of hill-side ditch
ing first invented, and so unsatisfactory the re
sults, that many who tried them purtially failed,
and gavo it up. A few persisted, aud added
such improvements, from time to time, as finally
commanded the respect of all sensiblo men.
Among those most prominent and most deserv
ing in tins regard, wo mention, with pleasure,
the name of R. S. Hardwick, Esq. A perfect
amateur in all that belongs to agriculture, loving
it for tho pleasure he found in pursuing it, and
not simply for the hope of reward, Mr. Hard
wick presented an anomaly among planters gen
erally ; and, on this account, accomplished more
for his occupation than it ever did for him. In
deed, ho did not spare money or labor to carry
out any of his experiments for the advancement
of tho science. One of the founders and early
Presidents of the Planters’ Club, he was seldom
absent from the Club room, and always ready
to take part in the discussions which came be
fore it. In one dark period of its history, when
many had withdrawn their support and influ
ence, ho seemed to have gathered new strength
from tho untoward circumstances surrounding
him, and sustained it mainly by his own person
al exertions. We believe, at this time, it would
have “gone down to the tomb of the Capulets,”
but for the energy and untiring zeal of this gen
tleman. Ho belonged to what might properly
be called the experimental school of agriculture;
and, as such, fell behind many of his more prac
tical brethren in the profits of his farm. But
while sofne of the anti-book men were disposed
to ridicule the new-fangled notions which he
got from his agricultural journals, and especial
ly if any of them proved to be failures ; they,
nevertheless, learned many things from liftn that
they knew not before, and profited much more
from his experiments than they are even now
willing to acknowledge. In one thing all must
award to him the palm, and that is, the intro
duction of improved breeds of stock into the
county, especially hogs and cows, by which the
general character of breeds have been improved.
The Berkshire stock of hogs, we believe, was
first introduced by him; and though taken alone,
did not seem to suit the rough and careless
treatment of overseers and negroes ftt the South,
yet, by being mixed with the more common
breeds, Ims greatly improved the general stock
of hogs throughout the country. The venerable
land pike, with his long nose and sharp back,
has gradually disappeared; and the Berkshire,
the China, and Irish grazier, with their various
admixtures, have taken his place.
In nothing, however, did Captain Hardwick
take more interest, or, perhaps, accomplish
more good, than in his untiring zeal in endeavor
ing to porfect the modes and appliances of hill
side ditching. He published his views general
ly in the Albany Cultivator, which were exten
sively copied by other journals. Despite of the
disrepute into which it had fallen, it soon grew
into favor again under his persistent advocacy,
backed, as he was, by some other leadiug men
of the Planters’ Club. And up to the present
time, it has held a predominant sway among the
best agriculturists of tho county—nay, we may
say of the South. For it seems that Alabama
and Mississippi have taken the lead of Georgia
in this particular, growing out of the fact, doubt
less, that their climate and soil demand it even
more than ours. A better system than oven
this, however, remains to be discussed in the
course of these letters —of which, for the
we will say nothing. The attention of farm er g
XB£ gotrxscx&sr vxx&s Affix xxxxsxxx.
generally has been aroused jon the subject of
preserving their lands from waste, which is quite
as important as to know how to re-supply those
wastes. For every washing rain that falls on a
freshly plowed field carries off more of the salts
and inorganic elements than could possibly be
added in a twelve month, so as to pay. We re
gret exceedingly that in the new processes of
agricultural improvement, now going on in this
and other departments, the Planters’ Club of
Hancock has lost the efficient aid of the indomita
ble Hardwick. But circumstances, beyond his
control, have removed him from the quiet walks
of agriculture to the busy marts of commerce.
We hope that even yet his long cherished pur
pose of returning, and mingling iu those rural
scenes and pursuits, so congenial to his nature,
may be carried out, and that the sun of prosperi
ty may shine propitiously on his declining years.
Sparta, Ga. p.
FEAR CULTURE IN THE SOUTH.
An Essay, written at the request of the Aiken Vine
Growing Association, of South Carolina, and
read before that body on Thursday , July Ith,
T 859, by L. E. Berckmans, of Augusta, Ga.
Mr. Chairman: By resolution of the Society,
communication of which has been sent to me.
June 16th, you have appointed me to prepare
an “ Essay on the Culture of the Pear."
The duty conferred upon me by said resolution
should be more thankfully accepted if I felt my
self better qualified to carry out the views of
the Society. However, I think to be , able to
throw some light upon the subject, by the result
of over thirty years’ experience in the fruit cul
ture, on this and the other side of the Atlantic,
and by my almost exclusive attention to the
pear cultivation in the South during the past
two years.
The object of the Society in calling up the
subject of the Pear culture is, undoubtedly, to
discuss thoroughly the advantages, inconve
niences, profits, and drawbacks of the cultiva
tion of that class of fruit, in reference to its value
as a market produce, and as a reliable crop
among the different fruit crops.
In taking this view of the subject, our first
duty must be to divest ourselves of all prejudice
in discussing matters of public interest; and as
the production of such an important class of
fruits as the Pear is at the eve of assuming
largo proportions, I cannot but highly approve
the opportunity of putting the question before
the public, under sanction of your authority,
with a view to open the field to impartial discus
sion and information.
The culture of every comparatively new, or
not sufficiently tosted fruit, or cereal, destined to
occupy a prominent place upon our markets,
and to exercise a marked influence upon the
general diet of tho people, is well worth the
earnest consideration of tho Agricultural and
Horticultural Societies .of the Union. It is, in
case of success, a benefit conferred upon the
community; and, in case of failure, heavy losses
of time and money saved; for individual preju
dices and hobbies, not to say anything about
less worthy motives, are hard to be overcome;
and were it not for such unique and far-famed
institutions as the American Agricultural and
Pomological Societies, the now almost cleared
field of pomology should be a wilderness of con
fused notions, inaccurate informations; and,
worse than all that, of bitter personalities and
disputations, where light and impartiality could
hardly be expected to find their way.
Much as the Pomological Society has done for
the selection and promotion of good fruits, we
cannot expect to find among the documents suf
ficient information in regard to the South, where,
indeeed, the cultivation of the Pear is still in its
infancy. Even in the North it is, and will be
for some time to come, a much controverted sub
ject—tluycesult of which has been a general un
easiness,Viisgivings, and doubts in regard to
tho probability of raising large crops of Pears;
aud, considering so many should have to be dis
cussed, so many objections to be overcome, our
task becomes more difficult, and our wish to be
brief and concise must yiold to the necessity of
conveying all possible information.
To proceed in a regular and logical order, we
have to indicate the principal points to be dis
cussed in due succession, aud in regard to their
respective importance.
1. Tho first question to be examined seems to
be : Is the Pear Tree, as a standard or as a
dwarf, suited to the South as far as Florida and
Louisiana ?
2. The second is: Can it be qpltivated with
profit to a certain extent ?
3. Third: Is it durable, and not more exposed
to diseases than other products ?
4. Fourth. Can we expect to sell the crops
with prospects of regular profits ? Then what
varieties and seasons are to be selected for the
market ?
5. What soils and aspects, local conditions,
manures, and treatment are the best to insure a
successful cultivation of the pear ?
If I am not mistaken, these must be the main
points to be examined in making up an essay—
not a treatise. Around these main questions
other remarks will occasionally find place.
It must be well understood that the Pear tree
is, all things considered, of a more refined, and
consequently of a more delicate and weak con
stitution than the Apple, Peach, and the Cherry
—the improved Pear tree of our modern times is
so far removed from the original wild parent,
found iu the forests of the old contiuent, as to
be altogether a different thing, and hardly bear
ing any likeness to that original wild type.—
Long since have I supposed that this may bo the
cause of its weaker and more refined habits ;
for, we all know that the more we make plants
and trees recede from their original type, the
more they become delicate and subject to va
rious diseases. This law of nature is universal,
and in accordance to it, tho more refined the
fruit, the flower, or the foliage, the more delicate
will be the plant. This rule admits of but few
exceptions.
But let the cause be what it may, it is a gen
erally acknowledged fact, that the Pear tree is
more fastidious, less hardy, and requires a bet
ter management than most all other fruit trees.
It succeeds, however, where almost any fruit
tree of the temperate zone does succeed, and
it seems rather to be suited to a more Southern
latitude than to tho Northern States. More
Pear trees are killed by the mediate or imme
diate effects of the severe frosts of the North
than by any other cause acting farther South.
Tho blight, almost the only fatal disease inhe
rent to the Pear tree, is not worse here than in
any other part of the Uniou, whilst the ravages
of intense cold winters are never witnessed
here.
That the Pear tree seems to feel better at
home this side of Mason & Dixon’s line, is proved
to me by three facts which I have closely ob
served during the last three years. The first re
mark is, that weak and outworn varieties, only
fitted for Espaliers, in their native climate, and
but ill adapted to the severe winters of the North,
are in fine condition here in Georgia.
The other fact is, that some European va
rieties, although very new or of recent origin,
will not do in the North, while they recover all
their native strength and beauty here.
The third remark applies to the size and
quality of the fruit which, in most all cases, is
superior in the South to what I have ever wit
nessed it to be in other parts. My seedlings
show tlTeir propensities or characters sooner;
their maturity is promoted in less time; their
foliage is often double the size of what I found
it to be in the North, especially many of the
inedited but most prominent seedlings of Van
Mons and Dr. Brinkle.
In regard to the Southern limits to -be as
signed to the Pear, I have not heard of a cli
mate where it did not grow. I had occasion to
unpack and to plant the Pear Trees sent to our
worthy Pomologist Dr. Brinckle, in Philadelphia,
as varieties from Brazil, Peni, and Mexico; they
were esteemed there as fine fruits, but they only
proved to be inferior varieties of the old cata
logues when growing here. This is another
conclusive fact in regard to the adaptedness of
the Pear to the very lowest latitude, as the same
result took place in that instance, to-wit: the
improvement of an inferior sort to a fruit of
good quality. To quote a few facts, I will state
that the Bartlett is decidedly better here than
in New York or Pennsylvania; that the White
Doyenne is more hardy, more certain, and
rather too rich; the Flemish beauty, the Pratt,
theßuffum, the Van Assehe, are larger and
better here than in the North. So with most
all the Pears I had occasion to test in Georgia
and South Carolina, except the old Winter
Pears.
Varieties of doubtful quality in the North, as
the Parfum Aout, Fondante de Semtembre, Bel
lissime D’Ete, Bello de Bruxelles, which I found
to be of uncertain or of second quality in Boston,
New York and New Jersey, are almost of first
quality in my grounds in Georgia. So much
for the influence of a Southern temperature upon
the Pear. And, as for the so much dreaded ac
tion of the Southern sun upon the bark, let mo
remark that I found it not to be so prejudicial
as it is commonly thought to be. I have plant
ed all sorts of trees, and some with highly de
nuded bodies; I have not found any of them to
suffer from that cause. The only pernicious ef
fects iu such cases isowing to the rash process
of suddenly removing the protecting limbs from
a fruit tree, when the body has not been ex
posed and inured, from its early youth, to the
Southwest**! rays of the sun.
That the Pear Tree will and must succeed
upon the quince stock, I have most satisfactory
and convincing proofs—provided the quince
stock be not exposed to the air and sun. As a
tree is not so weak—it is then complete in its
organism; but checked and deprived in its or
ganic structure, it becomes feeble and liable to
diseases. When the quince stock, below the
bud, is destroyed by worms, it is owing to one
of the following causes:
1. Unfitness of the budding variety to grow
well upon the quince stock. (We have many
of these).
2. Exposure of stock, or too deep planting.
3. Excess of moisture, or want of proper food
in thesoil.
4. The vicinity or presence of old decayed
wood, roots, or sticks, carelessly dug in with the
tree when planted.
In all-these cases it is sickness, either inherent
or accidental. Once fairly started, there is no
more danger for the dwarfed tree.
And now we must examine the much contro
verted subject: Can the pear be grown with
profit?
This is rather a complicated question, and I
do not know how to answer it as briefly as I
should wish to do. As far as my personal con
viction is concerned, I have no hesitation in re
plying in the affirmative, provided we stick to
the following rules:
1. The selection of a proper soil. All soils
are not suited to the pear tree
2. A locality sufficiently free from excessive
moisture, and rather rolling than too level and
flat.
3. The judicious and careful selection of hardy,
handsome, productive aud good varieties, selling
not only as good, but also as fair and inviting
fruit.
4. The selection of stock. Some pears, if not
all, growing upon the quince, are better upon
that stock than upon the free or wild pear stock.
No pears are nor were ever good upon the Haw
thbrne, Amelanchier, Mountain Ash, &c. We
have tried that twenty years ago, and never
succeeded in producing any good fruit, although
we made trees grow finely for the first two or
three years.
5. The proper attention and care bestowed to
the tree, which must be more than that given to
the apple, peach, or plum. Next to the grape,
the pear requires the greatest attention and skill.
It is not everybody’s business to raise handsome
fruit, and to form trees widely in a season of
abundance, will have their fruit so equally set
and distributed all over the trees as not to split
and break the limbs, as is often the case.
Let us remark that the greatest care is only
needed when the tree is very young. After it
is once well shaped and sets io bearing, it sends
qut less rank wood and takes better form and
habits.
It would take more words than I can com
press in an essay to lay down the rules of judi
cious pruuing, without which there is no future
for the Pear tree, at least in most cases, and
among the most refined sorts. We must confine
ourselves to a few remarks upon the profits and
the choice of Varieties suited to the market—
In the vicinity of Boston, for instance, most
handsome profits are realized from the Pear crops.
Although, judging from the quantity of Pears
grown around that city, we should deem the
market to be overstocked; still, Pears sell in
Boston from 50 cents to ovor $4 a d6zen. Some
cities, as Philadelphia, have only a few inferior
Pears in the market, and would pay any price if
they could get these in some quantity. Two
years ago tho editor of the Horticulturist wrote
me: “Much is written about Pears, but we can
not buy any in our Philadelphia market—please
let me have some, for love, for begging, or for
money!" In fact, tho Pear is considered such
an aristocratic fruit, (if I may use that term.)
that those who grow them keep them for their
own family, friends, and visitors, as one of the
finest luxuries. I have seen as much as $6 paid
for a dozen of handsome Pears in Boston, (in
December). No party is fashionable among
amateurs without at least one fine dish of Pears.
Messrs. Hovey, Austin, and many others, sell
Pears in large quantities, with very handsome
returns. From New Jersey, Western aud North
western New York, large quantities are sent to
New York city. Col. John Hebron, in Mississippi,
makes his Pear trees pay, and over. And
wheu we consider that Pears, to be gootl, must
be picked a few days before ripe, it seems just
the article for transportation to distant markets.
I have no doubt I can pick fine full grown Bart
letts, pack them in barrels, send them to New
York, or Quebec, or Havana, and when they
will be at the port of destination, and leisurely
unpacked, they will just be in the very best con
dition to go to the market or to the table. In
regard to the facility and security for, and the
very improvement of the fruit by transportation,
no other fruit can compare with the Pear, not
even Oranges and Lemons—the Pear and some
Apples being the only fruit which requires picking
from six to eight days before maturing, to bring
it up to its true quality. To make a Pear orch
ard pay, we need only the necessary skill Bud
care, a well cultivated soil, and a climate where
the bud is not exposed to be killed by 20 de
grees below 0, or by the uncertain springs of die
North. W e have not to care about markets—for
such fruit they are everywhere, because it bears,
and rather demands transportation.
Let those who have the means, time, skill, and
a little patience, try the experiment. They will
find out that a well planted and well directed
Pear tree comes into bearing sooner than an
Apple, and almost as soon as a Peach tree; that
in this climate the crops are more regular and
certain; that the Pear tree can be considered
as an annual bearer, while Apples are not, and
Peaches are very uncertain. The season of
blossoming for the hundreds of varieties of Pears
is so protracted, that only a score out of a hun
dred will be in blossom when a spring frost sets
in, and the others will either have set their fruit,
or be dormant, and consequently out of danger,
with an ordinary slight spring frost. I have
reasons to consider the blossoms of a Pear tree
more hardy than that of a Peach or Apricot.—
Few worms attack the Pear—the rot, the oidium,
and the curculio, are strangers to it
But is a Pear tree lasting ? I have seen many
a Pear tree over a century old; and, with proper
care and management, it will last as long as any
other fruit tree. As I stated before, the diseases
are mostly confined to the blight, which affects
some varieties more than others—the old varie
ties more than the new ones. We can, in the
actual state of science, not even indicate a reme
dy, but we cannot ascertain the origin and cause
(or causes) which produce that troublesome dis
ease. All I have been able to do is to direct my
attention and studies to the wood, foliage, and
general characters, which seem to render a given
variety more liable to the disease. The class of
Bartlett foliage and bark seems to be the most
exposed, as I remark in the very seedlings bear
ing those characters. So is the Glout Moreau
and the Vicar—notwithstanding that the bark
and foliage are very distinct in the three varie
ties. To prevent the disease in old trees is im
possible—for young trees there is a better
chance—close watching and pruning, the prompt
removal of tho diseased wood, longitudinal in
cisions when tho appearance of the bark is not
sound, a good supply of special wood forming
manures, are tho best means, if not to prevent
the blight altogether, at least to stop its further
progress, and in most cases the tree can be
saved.
Wo have, it is true, a diminutive borer, which
sets in just above a bud or a spur, and working
down a few inches, circles or girdles the wood
from inside out, and destroys part of a limb in
growing, or the body in very small trees. But
this insect is scarce, and only injures part of the
wood or unsound trees. I found it most active
in some shrubs, as the Spireas, Deutsias, Seryn
gos, and chiefly in the Lagerstromia. Among
thousands of young Pear trees in my grounds,
perhaps not fifty have suffered from that insect,
and those were only partly injured. The blight
will be found the worst in rich bottom soils,
where the tree takes up too much ammonia in
stead of the proper constituents of the wood
and organs of the tree —those are ashes,
lime phosphate, iron, silicates, plaster or gyp
sum. These substances, with the carbon of the
atmosphere, form tlie proper basis and food of
all the trees. Ammonia and nitrogen, promot
ing a too luxuriant growth and porosity of the
bark, seem also to promote the blight. I have
been told by Mr. Downing that seasons have
been witnessed at the North when at least every
tenth Pear tree was destroyed or injured by tho
blight Still, Pear growers have not been dis
couraged ;' and, indeed, it never has proved a
disease as fatal and destructive as tho borers,
the yellows, the black knot, and the ravages of
the curculio, from which the Pear tree is alto
gether free. Thousands of Apple, Peach, and
Plum trees are destroyed by- these evil causes,
and their crops rendered very uncertain if not
complete failures. This tells much in favor of
the Pear tree.
The best season to bring Pears into the mar
ket would seem to be from the months of Sep
tember to December, (Winter Pears being bet
ter suited for amateurs, as requiring too much
watching and extra care;) then, the Peach is
scarce, the Plums and Figs arc gone, and the
Winter Apple has not yet taken its place in the
market This remark applies to our home mar
kets. For the markets of the North the very
earliest Pears are the best.
I have partly answered the question of soils
and localities. I shall only add, that deep sandy
loam soils, rather dark than light colored. West
ern, Eastern, and Northern aspects, and rather
elevated localities, seem to be the best for the
health of the tree and the setting of the blos
som ; and that Southern latitudes agree better
with the Pear than higher latitudes, where of
ten winters from twenty to thirty degrees be
low zero prevent all reliauce upon a fair crop
of refined fruits, such as Pears, Peaches, and
Grapes.
I shall not see the time when the South, from
Virginia to Alabama, shall bo considered the
fruit garden of America, but I am fully con
vinced that such a time must and shall come,
and that thousands of acres, unfit for cultiva
tion of cotton and rice, will be converted into
remunerative orchards.
All wo want is a little patience—a rare thing
with a fast people. We must consider that
fruit trees are different from sweet potatoes, al
though they do not require more, if as much
care, and that the planting of rows of fruit
trees in the field, at convenient distances, will
not materially interfere with the crops of pota
toes, cow peas, or vegetables, or any low grow
ing crops that will not smother the young trees.
If, moreover, we will consider that soils ex
hausted for ordinary crops still do retain a great
deal of the constituents required for a tree, it
will be evident that fruit can often be obtained
where other products must fail.
We have yet to find out what sort of Pears
are best suited to our Southern latitude. Every
season, almost, brings us new Peaches, Grapes,
Pears and Apples, superior to the old varieties,
which will slowly work their way to the head
of the list of prominent fruits. Among the na
tive and foreign varieties, many have been
found to be well adapted to our climate. Wo
have a great deal more in expectation, and
among my select seedlings, collected from this
and distant countries, many give fair promise of
being ranked, at some future day, among our
best and certainly our most hardy and vigorous
varieties.
Permit me to conclude this already too long
chapter on Pears with some remarks upon the
different opinions about this fruit.
The mistakes and deceptions which have so
often occurred, and have discouraged many
zealous amateurs, are mostly tho result of un
wise selections of the worn out varieties, dis
carded and given up in their native localities
and here, not as refuse and unsaleable stock
but under good sounding, or false names, and
which must hare proven, as they did prove, in
deed failures. The newly obtained varieties are
undoubtedly (and with some few exceptions,)
the most vigorous, symmetrical, and hardy. Os
all the Pears cultivated at present as leading
varieties, a few only can be traced as far back as
Duhamel, or even Poiteau, (editions from 1785
to 1810.) The Duchess, the Beurre Superfin,
the Beurre d’Anjou, the Belle Lucrative, the
Clairgeau, and many others of our best leading
sorts, were not known twenty-five years ago. I
have hundreds of seedlings, selected from among
thousands, with which I would not part for any
consideration, so sure do I feel that some day
they must take the place of such varieties as I
do not consider as perfectly adapted to our lati
tude, or to our wants. We must have hardy,
beautiful, vigorous, productive trees, easily cul
tivated in all soils, and more easily kept in the
right form and shape, with good or best and
large fruit. What the last twenty or thirty
years of experiments, or good chances, have
done in that way, will be compared to what is
at present going on in our great Union. Seed
lings are brought to notice every season from
Maine to Alabama.
It has been my good fortune to be connected
with many influential and well informed gentle
men, and thus to have got a chance to test most
all the novelties here in the South, at the same
time that they are submitted to the judgment of
amateurs in other parts of tho Union. Let us
not judge the Cultivation of the Pear by the
worthless varieties which have induced people
to say Pears will not do in (no matter what
State;) it was the same in all States. When I
first became acquainted in New Jersey, I was
told “ Pears would not do well just there," and *
now Professor Mapes, Doctor Ward, William
Reid, and many others, realize handsome profits,
and have fine, almost certain crops every year.
And why ? Because they wisely discarded the
old, sickly, and run out varieties of tho cata
logues, when Pear culture was in its infancy,
and took to the new sorts endowed with all
the vigor, beauty, and fertility of renovated pro
ducts. *
I have thus far spoken of the Pear tree as a
producer, in competition with the other fruit
producing trees of our latitude; but if we come
from the orchard to the garden, we will find the
Pear tree the most indispensable, ornamental,
and convenient tree to be placed around dwel
lings and among our flowers and shrubbery.
What is equal in beauty to a well managed and
sound Bartlett, Superfine, Michel Archangel,
Buffum or Urbaniste?
But we must conclude, and we will do so with
a wish that more effectual and persevering ef
forts should be directed to that branch of rural
economy, in a climate and with such a soil as
ours, we must have the best Pears, as we have
already tho best Peaches and Grapes, to say
nothing of our delicious Apples. We have the
choice of localities, plenty of room, and the
means to try experiments. We shall not re
main behind when all the North, much less fa
vored by nature and climate, is fully alive to the
importance of this question.
——-
A PROFITABLE FORTY ACRE FARM-
To show what “ much labor on little land”
accomplishes, wo present a brief statement
drawn from the Hampshire Co. (Mass.) Agricul
tural Society's Transactions, there given in the
statement of Mr. Stebbins, of South Deerfield,
on entering his farm for the premium of the
Society.
The furm in question contains 41 acres, ten
of it worn-out sandy land, when ho came in posj .
session, over twenty years ago. But he “ re
solved to have a better farm.” To this sandy
field (three acres tho first year,) he applied clay
at the rate of fifty loads per acre, followed by
twenty-five loads of manure and 200 pounds of
plaster. This was all plowed in together, the land
planted to corn, and a fair crop was the result.
After corn, oats were sown, and the ground
seeded to clover. “By the use of clay and
manure,” he says, “I have made all my land as
good as the best, and increased my pastures one
hundred per cent, in quantity and quality of
product.
As to deep plowing, he rtqds the best way to
be to employ the subsoil plow. He turns under
his manure four or five inches deep, and then
subsoils the bottom of tho furrow as deeply as
possible. Corn is planted two years in suc
cession, the bettor to mix soil and manure, and
to fit the land for grass, and he now sows barley
instead of oats, as a more profitable crop.
The secret of his success lies in the fact that
instead of one hundred loads of manure as form
erly, he now makes three hundred and fifty
loads, supplying his yards freely with absorbent
earths, and using salt, lime, and plaster, to a con
siderably extent.
In 1854. the products of the 41 acre farm, in
usual farm crops, were worth a fraction under
$2,000, and the net profits $1,116 75. There
were twenty-three acres in mowing; thirteen
acres in eom and potatoes, three in barley, and
two in wheat. The reader may here see that a
large farm is not an essential requisite to pro
fitable management.
——■
Lime Water for Apple Trees. —A French
journal relates of a landed proprietor near Yvetot,
that he had in his garden some old apple trees
which produced no fruit. Two winters ago he
took some lime, which he steejied in water,
and with a brush washed the old trees all over.
The result was the destruction of all the insects;
the old bark fell off, and was replaced by new,
and the trees boro an excellent crop. Most of
them have now acquired such renewed vigor,
that all appearance of age has disappeared.
Salt for Animals. —In the “ Country Gen
tleman, ’’ of June 24, it is stated that “a great
deal has been written upon the use of salt for
animals.” “But very few actual experiments
have been made.” “The proper amount is what
we want to have determined.” For the
last twenty or more years, salt has been kept
where cattle, to the number of about twenty
head, together with sheep, and in summer, ex
cept such stock as is kept remote from the barn,
have free access to it Where they have free
access to it, they take but little at a time, and
often, and no more than nature requires. I have
known of but one instance in which it was inju
rious. An ox was possessed of such an insatia
ble appetite tliat he would take too much, and it
was necessary to restrain him. J. Sanford.
Fulton, N. Y.
To Dye a very Dark Blur. —Add to a com
mon indigo dye one tablespoonful of madder to
one ounce of indigo.
To Dye Silk or Wool an Orange Color. —
Boil the skins of ripe onions half an hour; take
out the skins, and add ono ounco of alum to one
quart of dye; put in the silks, stir often for
half an hour; dry. wash, andiron quite damp.
Right and duty are like two palm-trees, which
be ar fruit only when growing side by side.
87