a body of trained pickers whose numbers and skill insure the prompt harvesting of the crops. The vast quantities of early field-pease grown in New Jersey, the pickles, the tomatoes, even the turnips, are gathered by the same industrious class of people. The whole picking-business is known and coveted as a profitable one. Where fruit-growing has long been established, there all the essentials for conducting it profitably will be found within reach; and therefore it is to such locations that the prospective fruitgrower should direct his attention.

In every human enterprise, there is some hazard of failure. Business in the city is infinitely more uncertain than in the country. It is true, that a lucky hit in cotton or in stocks may make one wealthy in a day, compared to which all horticulture is a very slow coach. The next turn, however, may strip the millionnaire of his last dollar; but our slow coaches move steadily on, safely and comfortably, because we do not make haste. to get rich. Failure is not peculiar to a country occupation. The earth contains within its bosom a sure living for all who industriously and intelligently labor to extract it. If they fail in doing so, they must not accuse the soil, but themselves. The failure springs from some fault exclusively their own. But it is well that bad luck, whether in town or country, seems to produce no discouragement to others. Where one drops out of the ranks, a fresh candidate is ready to take his place. The stock exchanges of the great cities have thrown out innumerable pecuniary wrecks; but are they not more crowded with fresh adventurers than ever? So country life may have its disappointments; but none of them are absolute wrecks.

In choosing land, where immediate income is desirable, it will be cheaper to pay what may seem a high price for an acre well filled with bearing fruits, than much less for one in which the plants must be set and tended until they come to yield a crop. Such land will pay interest and a profit from the start. A beginner may be embarrassed by his want of experience; but he can call in the skilled help of the neighborhood, from which he will be constantly learning for himself. His very inexperience will make him tractable, and desirous of doing so. The absence of a headlong self-conceit will be useful to him. He will have nothing to unlearn. He must not invest every thing in land, as a floating capital proportioned to the number of his acres will be indispensable to success. As plants grow

slowly, so must he exercise patience. Do not expect to realize, the first year, the profit which the second or third may be made to produce. The first is usually a year of preparation, in which many things must be done that will not require repeating. Be careful not to expect too much, and disappointment will not follow. Let not an excessively wet or dry season produce discouragement or disgust, as such happen to us all. They are sometimes great drawbacks, especially to beginners; but they are never actually ruinous. Where one fruit thus perishes, two or three escape and pay well. As to glutting the market, that fear is subsiding. There are certain fruits of which no sufficient supply has yet been raised. Among these are raspberries and currants, all which pay great profits. A devotion to these two fruits alone, on a few acres, will produce annual returns fully equal to the value of the land on which they may be grown. Hence, if those who are now enjoined to disperse and scatter into the country will begin wisely, be industrious, persevering, and hopeful, they can assuredly draw from Mother Earth that certain maintenance which the entire agriculture of this country proves to be contained in it.

BURLINGTON, N.J.

Edmund Morris.

STRAWBERRY-BEDS

SHOULD be carefully weeded out as soon as the state of the soil will admit. It often happens that this work is left until the plants are in bloom, or neglected altogether, much to the injury of the crop. It will pay to cultivate this crop well, and thereby secure the best results. All who have a plot of ground, though it be only a garden-patch, should set out a strawberry-bed, to furnish, if possible, an abundant supply of this delicious fruit, at least for home consumption.

THE ADMIRAL FARRAGUT PEAR.

We have received the following description of this new pear from its

vigor and productiveness of the tree, may render it a valuable variety for market-purposes, if not for the amateur.

"The fruit is long, pyriform in figure, measuring five inches in length, and from three to three and a half inches in diameter; stem rather stout, about three-fourths of an inch long, curved, set in a shallow, one-sided depression ; calyx medium size, set in rather shallow basin; segments slightly reflex; the skin is green, with numerous dots, and a considerable blush on the sunny side; the flesh is melting and juicy, fine grain, with a pleasant sub-acid flavor. It always ripens soundly, and can be picked a little before maturity if long transportation is necessary. It comes in about Sept. 25, just on the heels of the Bartlett; and has always sold for a much higher price, on account of its large size and beauty. The tree is eighteen years from the seed. It bore a barrel and a half of fruit in 1866, and it has fruited very abundantly every year. The tree is strong; making long, healthy shoots of moderate thickness. The pear has steadily improved year by year; and, last year, was better than ever before."

PEACH-TREES IN POTS.

THESE should not be set out too early, especially if they have been kept in a warm cellar during the winter. It sometimes happens, unless care is used, that the buds start so early, that they are destroyed by a late frost. Some who have been quite successful in growing peaches in this way have kept them during the winter in a barn-cellar, where they have been kept cold and in a dormant state until the season was well advanced.

We lay before our readers this month another letter from our correspondent, Hon. Joseph S. Cabot, which will be of special interest to floriculturists. There is no branch of horticulture which is brought to greater perfection in England; and the progress there made should stimulate our countrymen to more ardent efforts, which cannot fail to meet their due reward.

To the Editor of "The American Journal of Horticulture and Florist's Companion."

In England, as in the United States, cattle-shows and horticultural exhibitions are of frequent occurrence, which, in their character, arrangement, and management, seem to be very similar in both countries. In consequence of this similarity, then, if I attempt to describe those of England, as you are familiar with those of America, I cannot tell you any thing that is new; yet it has seemed to me to be possible that an account of some of these exhibitions in the former country at which I happened to be present might not be wholly without interest. As the value of such account to you would depend very much upon particulars, it is unfortunate for me, that, in making it, I am obliged wholly to rely upon my recollection; and, as the exhibitions to which it refers took place some months since, it is most likely that my memory will prove at fault with regard to what I should most wish to tell.

On the 25th of May occurred the first Flower Show in London for the year 1867 it was at Sydenham, in the Crystal Palace, about half an hour from the city by rail. The place selected - the Crystal Palace is very well adapted for shows of this kind, that require a good deal of room; and, in its large halls and long galleries, ample space is obtained to display the plants, without crowding, to the best advantage. It is a place of general and constant resort; and the trains