Mr. A. W. Harrison, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, places before us a Howell pear weighing 1 lb. 1 1/2 oz. and measuring 12 1/2 inches in its lateral circumference. It was from the garden of Mr. James R. Gates, the President of the Select Council of the city of Philadelphia. The variety is always a prolific one - in this case Mr. Gates thinned largely in an early stage - and yet it bore so freely of these grand specimens that branches had to be supported, and even then some broke from the weight. The soil must be particularly favorable to the pear. The specimens have not been excelled in these parts that we know of.