rge fruit-trees. The two kinds of pear-trees, dwarf and
standard, may be planted together closely and be profitable for early
and abundant bearing. The plan given on the next page of a pear-orchard,
recommended in Cole's Fruit Book, is the best we have seen.

In the plan the trees on pear-stocks, designed for standards, occupy the
large black spots where the lines intersect. They are thirty-three feet
apart. The small spots indicate the position of dwarf-trees on quince
stocks. Of these there are three on each square rod. An acre then would
have forty standard trees, and four hundred and eighty dwarfs. The
latter will come into early bearing, and be profitable, long before the
former will produce any fruit. This will induce and repay thorough
cultivation. They should be headed in, and finally removed, as the
standards need more room. One acre carefully cultivated in this way,
will afford an income sufficient for the support of a small family.

[Illustration: Plan of a Pear-Orchard.]

_Gathering and Preserving._--Most fruits are better when allowed fully
to ripen on the tree. But with pears, the reverse is true; most of them
need to be ripened in the house, and some of them, as much as possible,
excluded from the light. Gather when matured, and when a few of the
wormy full-grown ones begin to fall, but while they adhere somewhat
firmly to the tree. Barrel or box them tight, or put them in drawers in
a cool dry place. About the time for them to become soft, put them in a
room, with a temperature comfortable for a sitting-room, and you will
soon have them in their greatest perfection. They do better in a warm
room, wrapped in paper or cotton. A few only ripen well on the trees.
Those ripened in the house keep much longer and better.

_Varieties._--The London Horticultural Society have proved seven hundred
varieties, from different parts of the world, in their experimental
garden. Cole speaks of eight hundred and Elliott of twelve hundred
varieties. There are now probably more than three thousand growing in
this country. Many seedlings, not known beyond the neighborhood where
they originated, may be among our very best. From six to ten varieties
are all that need be cultivated. We present the following list, advising
cultivators to select five or six to suit their own tastes and
circumstances, and cultivate no more. We do not give the usual
descriptions of the varieties selected. The mass of cultivators, for
whom this wo