The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-09-25
IAu)l..U 8HN HITEDiq Yl3l14H aIIE
THE WEEKLY PIONEER AND DEMOCRAT

tlIn00 IuOCc ple6ouT0 Llldu ITO COulu nave
obtained for the full value Of all his grapes
in gold. m ~.
Too much praise cannot be bestowed on
Mr.. M. for his long continued persever-
ence in testing the fruit question in Min
nesota. But beside this, we must say that
we regard him singularly lucky. How
such vineyard should have remained,
through the season of ripening, untouched
by the "b'hoys," or by night-walkers,"
we cannot divine. BY the way, it should
be observed that Mr.. NJ $ house, of which
the vineyard is the background, has been
occupied by Mr.. CATHCARr ever since last
spring and NJ. @. has a happy family of
little boys and girls, who, like all other
children, have ewes love of fruit" and
yet, strangely enough, not cluster of his
vintage has been touched, until the time
appointed. We can hardly conceive of
better test of domestic discipline
But Mr.. M S experiments have not been
confined to the grape. The peach and
the pear have received careful attention at
his hands; and in the latter his success
has been scarcely less brilliant than in the
grape. He has lighted on the true secret
Of preserving these more tender fruits
from the rigors of our winters. Several
dwarf pear trees were hanging full of the
most magnificent looking pears that we
have ever seen. The dwarfing idea is es-
pecially suited to this climate. The pear
is engrafted on the ounce root and its up
ward tendency checked, at the very start,
by topping, which causes lateral branches
to be thrown ont in all directions. These
branches are held down by forked sticks
or weights, so that scarcely limb two
feet long can be found foot above
the ground. The advantage of thus keep
ing the limbs down is, that the whole
tree can be covered by straw, through the
winter, with about as much ease as the
grape vine when laid down on the ground.
In many of the more southern States the
standard pear tree is being abandoned as
impracticable, and the dwarf trees substi-
tuted. These will commence bearing in
the third Or fourth year, while the stand
ard tree, at best, will not bear under seven
or eight Moreover, it is now beginning
to be asceltained that even as far south as
st. Louis, the pear and the peach are fire.
quently killed in the bud, by the severity
of the winters, and that the frequent fail
ures of crops may be avoided in no way
so well as by covering with straw, fodder
or trash.
The objection to the dwarfing process is
that the tree cannot bear so much fruit as
the standard. This is admitted; but there
can be tour times ten times-as many
dwarf trees on given piece of ground, as
of standard trees; and by careful cover
ing they may be made to bear iucayiably,
while the standard trees, at best, will fail
nearly every other year. Mr.. NJ. has one
dwarf tree which mist have on it, at this
time, between peck and half bushel of
fine pears.
Whether the peach can be dwarfed and
trained in the same way as the pear, is
not yet certain,-sO far as our information
extends. 1t Naturally inclines to rapid
growth, and it may be, that by greatly re-
straining this tendency, we may destroy
it. In England, the peach is grown only
oy training up, in the tan shape, on the
south side IF brick and stone walls. In
Illinois, many persons, to escape the rava-
ges Of the worm in the root, bud or graft
the peach on the bitter almond, the Bit
terness Of which protects it against the
worm. This is said greatly to restrain the
growth of the peach, and it may turn out
that this is the best mode of dwarfins it.
Then, by topping and training. as Mr. NJ.
proceeds with his pears, we may be able
to cover and protect it in the same way.