No sooner, then, does a vale farmer become possessed of sufficient capital than he moves to the hills, and as in his former residence he had imbibed a love for cider, his first act will be to plant an orchard at his new home; but, alas! the most successful farmer cannot command crops in an uncongenial soil, and so it is not surprising that we should know of instances where not even enough fruit for an annual apple pudding has been produced from a Cotteswold orchard which had been planted thirty years. Apples only attain to perfection on deep tenacious soils, and in a genial climate; the moment the roots get down to stones, the ends of the branches begin to decay, and they become covered over with lichens as thickly as in wet ill-drained clays; besides this the trees look old and knotty, even in youth, a sure sign that they are not sufficiently nourished. These facts are so well known that in planting in our gardens we prepare the soil, if not sufficiently deep and good, and make the climate more genial by fencing and planting in sheltered situations; but this is not possible on a large scale. Pears prefer a lighter soil than apples, the new red sandstone deposit, especially, the marls of this rock and the lias clays, when covered up, as in parts of the valley of the Severn, with sand drifts, suit pears admirably. Like the apple, the pear is rich in sorts. It is said to be derived from the _Pyrus communis_, which is referred to as a native tree; but though it is really wild in the temperate regions of the European continent, and in parts of Asia, there seems reason to conclude that our occasional hedge-row denizen has, after all, been derived from pear cultivation. Pears for dessert are very numerous, and each year adds to the list. Scott, of Crewkerne and Yeovil Nurseries, gives a list of two hundred and thirty sorts cultivated by himself, as Standards, Pyramids, and Dwarf-trained for walls and espaliers. This list abounds in French names given by both French and Dutch horticulturists, with whom the pear is a great favourite. Lindley, in his “Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden,” describes but six sorts of perry pears, of which there are doubtless several varieties. They are as follows:— ORIGIN OF NAMES. _Barland_, from Barland, in the parish of Bosbury, Herefordshire. _Holmore_, from the parish of Holmore, between Hereford and Leominster. _Huffcap_. _Longland_, from the field in which the tree grew. _Oldfield_, from Oldfield, near Ledbury. _Teinton Squash_, from Teinton, in Gloucestershire. Besides these are Blakeney Red Trump Pear, Honey Pear, Moorcroft, Malvern Hill, &c. Pears, like apples, being named from places and people, &c., each district having its own favourite sorts; but perhaps those in the previous list are the favourite.