' ‘ples, four successive generations, and about iitation, have yielded their first fruit at an ,"ci'easimr rorrression it ma be seen that‘ U D 7 reached where none other than excellent spears are obtained, at the end of forty-two ,ftl1e=pea.r, in five uninterrupted generations, "new trees and fruits, all of which are of ex- y'ea_rs.’’ - '1ii5‘f0llows: He left them-in the seed bed Vaway-a part as worthless, and transplanted ”‘aillo‘w_the1n to develop. themselves. He ;pla.nted them ‘sufficiently near to force t.hem case, for our stone fruit always reproduce' more or less good without any particular attention, and therefore they should with; less difficulty, and in shorter time, arrive at a perfect state of amelioration.” The time required to arrive at a satisfac- tory result., that is, the number ofyears be- fore each tree would produce its first fruit, and the number of generations necessaryj to advance the fruit. to a state of suflicientl excellence, was a subject of anxious im-l portance. Van Mons found that three ori four generations in uninterrupted succes-l sion, embracing from t.welve to fifteen con- secutive years, were sufficient to obtain no other than excellent fruit from the stones of peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries, and to obtain none other than excellent ap- twenty consecutive years were required.-— VViLh the pear, the dilficulty was greater. “At first, Mr. Van Mons was unable topr0— cure the seeds of varieties very recently pro created ; the seeds he was obliged to com mence his experiments with, were obtained from T ancient varieties, whose age was iriucli advanced, which from experience "tended to retard the first fructification of his ‘young trees. Nevertheless, Mr. Van Mons has been able to ascertain that twelve or ‘fifteen years was the mean term of time ‘from the moment of planting the first seed --of an ancient variety of the domestic pear, to the first fructification of the trees which sprung from them. The trees from the se- cond sowing of the seed of the first gene- age of from ten to twelve years, as the Iiiéhh t’er‘m; "those of -the third generation, atan age of from eight to ten years ; those of the fourth generation, at an age of trom six to eightyears, and finally those of the fifth generation, at the age of six years.—— Mr. Van Mons being actually at the eighth? generation, has informed me that he has obtained several pear trees which fructifiedl at t/te‘ag'e of four years. From this de-‘ the feariof a lengthened experiment ought. to decrease in proportion as it advances, and that adding the requisite years of the ‘first five generations of the pear, a point is years. But if in each generation, as has fbeen shown, there are always several trees which do not await the mean term named for their fructification, the time may be esti- inated at thirty-six years, for obtaining from cellent quality. The time can still be more abrid ed ; for in one of his last letters Mr.l .‘V.'é1“nl ‘ Ions informed me that from two of his first sowings of peers, there were trees pro- duced which fructified at the age of six ‘His method of treating his seedlings was years; he then took them up, threw the most vigorous at a proper distance to to__run tall, and to form pyramidal tops, without pruning ; this hastens, he .states,.; ' . ADVOCATE 015‘ INTERNAL IiMPROVEMEN'I‘s. their fructification. This distance was about ten feet. ll/Vhile waiting for them to fructify, opportunity was afforded to ex- amine the characteristics of their future ex’ cellence. It was generally not until they were four years of age, that they began to develop distinctly these charact.e1'istics.——— From long continued observations, he was enabled to establish the following prognos- tics : “1. P7‘0gnostic.9 offizrm'cibi’e aztgitry. A good form, a smooth and slightly shining bark, a regular distribution of the branches, in proportion to the height of the tree, an- nual shoots bent, stri:i.tc.d, a little twisted, and brea/ring elect/z trait/tout .S‘]JllI'Ii8)'.S‘, thorns long garnished with eyes or buds, their whole, or nearly whole length, eyes or buds plump, not divergent, rod or grizzled , leaves smooth, of a mean size, crimped on the side of the middle nerve, borne on pe- tioles ratlieflong than short, the youngest in spring, remaining a long time directly against the bud, the others, or the inferior, expanded, hollowed into a gutter from the bottom towards the top, but not their whole length. “2. Prognostics of bad augury. Branch- es and twigs confused, protruding like those of the hornbeam, or broom, thorns short, without eyes; leaves averted from the bud, from their first appearing, small, round, ter- minating in a short point, guttered their whole length. These characteristics indi- cate small fruit, flesh sweet and dry, or ba- king fruit and late. “ 3. Prognostics Qf early fruit. VVood large, short ; b.Ltcls.la:rge and near. “ 4. Progiiostics qf late _fruz'z.‘. Wood slim, branches well distributed, pendent, the shoots a little l{I10l.lCtl, generally denote late delicious fruit. ; with leaves round, point short, still, ‘of a deep green, borne on petioles of mean length, are analogous signs, but less sure.” We close this article with an account of the severe disappointments‘ which this dis- tinguished man has been doomed to expe- rience of late years. While pursuing his experiment. on a very extensive scale in his nursesy at Brussels, in 16319, the ground which was occupied by his vast collection of new fruits, was declared to be indispen- sable for streets and building lots, and he was summoned to vacate it in the short space of two months, under the penalty of seeing all his trees cut down and thrown into the fire. As professor of the Universi- ty of Louvain, he resolved to remove his nursery to that cit.y, that it might be more completely under his control; but the peri- od assigned for evacuating his nursery, was unfortunately inthe winter. His loss was consequently great and irreparable’; and being obliged to confide nearly the whole care and labor of removal t.o others, it was with great difliculty he saved a twentieth part of his nursery. After his removal to Louvain, with the exception of having a great number of young plants kroken down and drawn out of the ground, by the masses of ice which were left upon it, after a great freshet in the river which passes though the city, and which overflow ed his nursery to the depth of seven or eight feet, he enjoyed more or less quietly this new .639 l"c1tion during the following thirteen years. His correspondence was renewed and ex- tended, his losses were replaced by new ac- quisitions, and the mass of his observations was augmented, and his new varieties were liberally disseminated. “ But,” observes Poiteau, “public utililc had sworn that she would finally ernbitter his old age. In 1831, we besieged the citadel D’Anvers, and although Mr. Van Mons’ nursery was fourteen leagues distant. from the army, the engineers couldnot find a more commodious place than that nursery to bake the bread of the soldiers in, consequently a great part of his trees were destroyed, having constructed their ovens on the ground where they grew, and the fruit of ihe others was exposed to pillage. Still the philosophy of Mr. Van Mons sustained him in this unexpected devastation; he hired two other tracts of land into which he re motel his young plants ; he was consoled because he had time to collect, although it was summer, scions of the trees which were sacrificed to afford a place for the erection of ovens , but public utility had not yet ex- hausted all her severities against him.-— Unfortunately, there was not a Chaptal in the council of the prince, and the engineer, seeing nothing, decided again in 1835, in the name of public utility, that Mr. Van Mons’ nursery was the sole and only point on the globe, proper for establishing a gas house for lighting the city. Heaven grant that these gentlemen may be enabled to see better for the future, but it is not in their power to prevent the true friends of .i'nte'l'- lectual light, and of public prosperity, -from regarding their decision as an act of igno- rance and the grossest vandalism. ' “ Mr. Van Mons is actually seventy years of age 3 he has consecrated his whole, public utility, and yet it is in the name of public utility that they have slain him, as- sassinated him! 0 age of light, how’ dark thou art ! A “In the commencement of September, of pears, which were the first of a seventh generation, observed in his letter, ‘_ when you taste these pears the trees which bore ed a few days after, that the destructive axe had prostrated these trees and many others, that the nursery was dishonored, lost, and Mr. Van Mons frustrated in his. dear est hopes, which were to send. us the products of his labor. i 1‘ “It is impossible to foresee, or rather! dare not express my fears, as to whatwill become of the ruins of an establishment, which wanted encouragement, which was of a nature to ele\rate"‘the"glory‘of an lim- Dire.” ’ ' - " " ' " ‘ ordered to evacuate the whole of theilarnd before the end of February. * 1 'ro~ooNTrtAo'roas. is TWO hundred thousand yards of‘earth'v¢"fH”‘Bd'*rc» . Island. ll’-errsorrs desi-» moved by contract on Staten ,_ , rons of making cuntractsvrill make .immedlale‘app1i- cation. The work will be divided in )O00"feet’f_sec- tions, andletinpart or main. V. . , —. ' ‘ , Ap ly at the office ‘at Fort 'Ilom’pl