Business called me in the fall of last year to France; and I was so much pleased and surprised by what I saw thore, in reference to the universal culture of the pear, that I am induced to send you some remarks upon it, which I think may interest your readers. I landed at Havre, and was, much against my inclination, detained there by business longer than was agreeable to me. My time was, however, by no means fully occupied; and I whiled away many an hour which would otherwise have hung heavily on my hands, by exploring the surrounding country, which, by-the-bye, is full of interest to a visitor; and the charm of novelty being added to the beauties of nature, in my case, at any rate, a protracted stay in that part of the country, gradually became not only endurable but interesting. To make my explanation of the particular use of the pear tree, to which I wish to call attention in these remarks, intelligible, I must shortly describe the locality of Havre; or those of your readers who have not been on the Continent of Europe, will not understand me. The town itself is placed at the entrance of the river Seine; embosomed in a splendid bay, said to be, with our own New-York, and those of Naples and Constantinople, the finest in the world.

But there is one point in which our New York bay is incomparably more valuable in a mercantile point of view, which is this, that the bay at Havre forms the segment of a semicircle, perfectly open to the sea and exposed to a heavy swell, which, during six or eight months of the year, renders it unsafe for merchantmen to ride at anchor outside the harbor. Havre is a fortified town surrounded by a moat - into which the tide flows: it is commanded by high land in the rear, which forms almost an ampithentre, rising by rather a steep ascent from the back of the town. This constitutes a very considerable suburb to the place, being covered with streets of houses, intersected by villa residences dispersed over the hill side, and forming a convenient outlet to the mass of mercantile inhabitants congregated in this, the French market for our cotton. There is, moreover, a considerable space extending over a flat strip of ground, varying in breadth from fifty yards in some places, to a quarter of a mile in others, between the town itself and the " cote," as the hill side to which I have alluded, is called - and this fiat is covered by a mass of small dwellings, principally inhabited by store keepers, artisans and working people, to which small peices of garden, or more properly speaking, yards, are attached.

They are of very limited extent; but to these it is that I wish to direct attention. The size of them varies considerably, but a large portion of them are not more than from fifteen to twenty feet square. Yet in these little places, subject though they be, to all the uses of a poor and needy class of a people, such as are scarcely to be found in this country, there is to be seen some five or six, or more pear trees, varying in number according to the size of the ground, covered with fruit - always of fair growth, and frequently as fine as can be found anywhere. Often have I stopped to admire the appearance of the trees and the abundance of the crop, and sometimes to gossip with the old ladies, who are generally to be found outside the door, pursuing some of their manifold domestic operations - the great majority of which they delight to perform in the open air! They are all, apparently, pear " fanciers," and are much pleased by the approving smile of the traveller, particularly if happens to be a foreigner.

And they are very communicative upon the subject, answering readily any inquiry that may be addressed to them, and enlarging with great volubility upon the character of the fruit, the wonderful crops that particular years have produced, and last, not least, upon the " poll tease" of " Monsieur" who has had the "complaisance" to make the inquiry! These trees are almost invariably grown as standards, from six feet to ten in height, and pyramidal in shape - well furnished with branches from the ground to the top, and forming, as they do, a constant feature in all gardens, from these cottage plots, to the extensive grounds of the rich, where they are seen to convert the straight walks into perfect avenues of pomona, it is hardly possible to walk five minutes, without being reminded of your presence in the land of pears.

Another thing connected with this subject, which I particularly remarked, was that you never see an inferior variety grown there. Many, indeed most of the sorts, were old favorites, but most of them deservedly so. One of the Doyenne varieties was of very general culture, and becomes to those whose circumstances oblige them to sell their fruit, a source of considerable profit. Very large quantities of these pears are bought up every year, for exportation to St. Petersburgh, where they fetch a high price, and the demand for this market is so regular, that they are always expensive, as compared with most other kinds in the Havre market.

I had several conversations, both with nurserymen and others, upon the modes of culture adopted, and found it was of the simplest character. During the first three years from the grafting of the stock, they annually lift the plants, which they consider essential to the formation of a good large ball of roots; and certainly, in that respect, their trees leave nothing to be desired. Nothing can exceed the healthy appearance of the roots of some, which late in the year I saw a man lifting in a nursery there - and in quantity they did ample justice to the cultivator. After that age they do but little except the pruning, which they well understand, and which I took some pains to make myself master of. I brought a few trees home with me, which are now bearing a small crop only, as from an accident they suffered injury on the voyage, and I have had difficulty to recover them.

In the small villages around Havre, of which there are several, every working man's cottage has its half dozen pear trees, and they appear to be regarded as an essential appendage to the domicile of a French artisan.

In the village gardens I observed, also, that the pear trees in no way encroached upon what some may regard as the more appropriate occupants of the cottagers plot - I mean cabbages and potatoes. In the suburbs I saw few vegetables, but in the villages, the gardens were well stocked with them, the pears being planted at the corners and down the sides of the divisions of the ground, where, (as was the case oftentimes in the villages,) the gardens attached to the cottages were of fair extent. The effect produced by the whole was pleasing to a degree I shall not easily forget, and conveyed to the mind an idea of enjoyment which, alas, was too often confined to the exterior of these humble abodes! For the laboring classes in that tine but unhappy country, are poor and destitute of the necessaries of household comforts, to an extent which it is painful to witness. Volatile and unreflecting, however, the French husbandman appears to realise the aphorism of the poet, and singing his "Marseillaise" as he drives his plough, where no " babbling echo" can waft his " treasonable!" lay to the ears of a " prince president," or his miserable minions, he cheerfully toils through his daily task, and returns to his naked home light hearted, and contented with his lot.

" Man wants but little here below, Nor wants that little long".

What I wish to impress upon your readers, is the beautiful effect produced, and the air of rural taste given to a neighborhood, by this universal growth of the pear tree. Until seen, it is difficult to be estimated. But I will engage that if the lovers of horticulture in any one city, will exert themselves, and distribute a few pear trees amongst their neighbors, (and they are cheap enough here now,) so as to get a goodly show of them, that before three years are over, if they are grown in the conical shape I have described, and which is well known, there will not be an inhabitant in the vicinity that would fail to regard them as a magnificent addition to the elegances of the place. Then, without entering into more expensive or time occupying floriculturai pursuits," " pear societies" may be started, and every fall would bring along its pear exhibition, and with it a day of joy and gaiety for all the lads and lasses around!

To all, I say then, plant pears. If you don't eat them yourself, give them away, or sell them if you like; and moreover, if you manage them so badly that you get no fruit, (you will be rather clever to prevent having more or less three years out of four,) you will still have, if well trained, as fine an object as an ornamental tree - as almost any deciduous trees of the size that you can find. Therefore, I say again, plant pear trees.

An Amateur.

New-YorK, September, 1852.