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La Double Flcur, /. e. the dcuhlc-jlowering Tear. This 

 is fo called, becaufc the flowers have a double range 

 of petals or leaves. It is a large fhort Pear ; the ftalk 

 is long and Ilrait ; the flcin is very fmooth, and of a 

 ycllov/ilh colour, but the fide next the Ibn is common- 

 ly of a fine red or purple colour. This is by fome 

 clleemed for eating, but ic is generally too aultere in 

 this country for that purpofc. It is the bell Pear, in 

 the world for baking or compofts. It is good from 

 February to May. 

 PvRus {Saint Martial) fativa, fru6lu brumali ob- 



' longo, partim flavefcente, partim purpurafcente. Saint 

 Martial* It is alfo called in fome places Poire Ange- 

 lique, L e. the Angelic Pear ; and in the fouth of 

 France, Poire Douce. This Pear is oblong, in {hape 

 like the Boncretien, but not fo lar^e, and a little flat- 



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bourhood of London, where all forts of fiult gene- 

 rally ripen a fortnight or three v/ecks earlier than in 

 almofl: any part of England ; ai'id it is very obvious 

 to every perfon who will attend to the culture of fruit- 

 trees, that their time of ripening is accelerated by 

 long cultivation ; for many of the forts of Pears, 

 which fome years paft rarely became ripe in'Encrland, 

 unlefs they grew againit the belt afpefted walls, are 

 now found to ripen extremely well on efpalicrs and 

 dwarfs •, and thofe Pears which feldom were in eating 

 till January, are ripe two months earlier. There is 

 . alfo a very great diStrence in their time of ripening 

 in different feafons, for I have known the fruit of a 

 Pear-tree in one year all ripe and gone by the middle 

 of Oftober, and the very next year the fruit of the 

 fame tree has not been fit to eat till the end of Decern- 



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ber, fo that allowance fhould be made for thefe acci- 

 dents. The Befi de Chaumontelle Pear, about forty 

 years pafl:, was feldom fit to eat before February, and 

 has continued good till themiddleof April, .but now 

 this Pear is commonly ripe in November ; and when 

 it is planted on a warm foil, and againfl a good af- 

 pedled wall, it is in eating the middle or end of Oc- 

 tober. This forwarding of the feveral kinds of Pears, 

 may be in fome meafure owing to'the fl:ocks upon 

 which they are grafted; for if they are grafted upon 

 early fummer Pear ftocks, they will ripen much earlier 

 than when they are upon hard winter Pear fl:ocks ; 

 and if fome of the very loft' melting Pears were grafted 

 upon fuch ftocks as are raifed from the moft auftere 

 fruit, fuch as are never fit to eat, and of which the 

 befl: perry is made, it would improve thofe fruits, and 

 70. PvRus (Carmelite) fativa, frudu brumali globofo j continue them much longer good ; or if the common 



ter at the crown ; it has a very long ilalk ; the fkin is 

 imooth and yellowifh, but on the fide next the fun it 

 turns to a purplilh. colour ; the flefli js tender and but- 

 tery, and the juice is very fweet. This is in eating 

 'in February and March. 



78. pyRus [Beji Chaumontelle) fativa, fru6tu brumali 

 . oblongo, partim albido, partim purpureo odorato, 

 " faccharato. La Poire de Chaumontelle, or Befi de Chau- 

 montelle^ i. e. the Wilding of Chaumontelle. This Pear 

 is in (hape fomewhat like the Autumn Beurre, but is 

 flatter at the crov/n ; the Ikin is a little rough, of a 

 ^ pale green colour, but turns to a purplifii colour next 

 '. the fun ; the flefli is melting ; the juice is very rich, 

 '^^and a little perfumed. It is in eating from November 

 ;. to January, and is efteemed by fome as the befl; late 

 Pear yet known. , _ 



. .-? .-. 



; \ fefliU cinerco maculis amplis obfcurioribus confperfo. 

 *" Tonm.' CarnieTiteT] This is a middle- fized Pear, of a 

 _' roundifli formTthe fkin is of a gray colour on' one 

 *,,/^^^> but is inclining to a red on the other, having 

 *"'fome broad foots of a dark colour all over-, the flelh 

 ';" Js commonly hard and dry, fo that it is not very much 

 ,^ "efteemed. It is in feafon in March. 

 ?o, PvRus (Union) fativa, fruftu brumali maximo py- 

 ' • ramidato, dilute virente. 'The Union Pear, otherwife 

 - called Dr. Uvedale's St. Germain. This is a very large 

 ',., long Pear, of a deep green colour, but the fide next 



the fun doth fometimes change to a red as it ripens. 



This is not fit for eating, but bakes very' well ; and 

 ; belngagfeattearer, and a very large fruit, deferves 

 .. a place in every good coUedion. It is in feafon from 



Chriftmas to April. 





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I., There are many other forts of Pears, which are Hill 



continued in fome old gardens; but as thofe here, 



V mentioned are the beft forts known at prefent, it 



" would be needlefs to enumerate a great quantity of 



';, ordinary fruit ; Tmcc every one who intends, to^plant 



■ .fruit-trees, wouldjaj!?^! J^^^^^. ?^^^^ which are the 

 [ ; moft valued, the expence and trouble being /le fame 

 for a bad fort of fruit as a good one. Indecll I have 

 /Inferted many more than arejeally worth planting, 

 in order to pleafe fuch who are fond of great varie- 

 :. ty ; but whoever hath a mind to make choice of fuch 

 J only as are good, may eafily diftinguifli them, by at- 

 V,_ tending to the account given of each fort, and here- 

 ,,r by every perfon is at liberty to pleafe himfelf; for it 

 is not every one who prefers a Beurre Pear, though 

 , that is generally efteemed the very beft in its proper 

 ^ feafon ; there are fome who admire the Meflire Jean, 

 for the firmnefs of its fle(h, which to others is a great 

 objection againft it ; fo that as fome efteem the break- 

 and others the melting Pears, I have diftinguifli- 

 cd'thcm by their defcriptions in fuch a manner, that 

 every one may make choice of the kinds of fruit 

 ' which are agreeable to their palates •, arid the different 

 feafons in which each kind is in eating, being exhi- 

 bited (allowing a little for tjie difference of leafons, 

 which are earlier fome years than others) it is not very 

 difficult for a perfon to make a colledtion of good 

 Pears to fucceed each other throughout the feafon of 

 thefe fruits, both for eating and. baking. 

 . The time of each fruit ripening, as here fet down, is 

 taken at a medium for feven years, and in the neigh- 



free ftocks were firft grafted with any of thefe jiard 

 winter Pears, and when they have grown a year, 

 then to graft or bud thefe foft melting Pears upon 

 them, it would have the fame effeft ; but the Pears 

 fo raifed will require a year's more growth in the nur- 

 fery, and confequently cannot be fold at the fame 

 price as thofe which are raifed in the common me- 

 thod, thefe requiring to be twice budded or grafted, 

 fo that there is double labour, belide ftanding a full 

 year longer ; but this difference in the firft expence 

 of the trees, is not worth regarding by iany perfon who 

 is dcfirous to have good fruit j.for the fetting out in 

 a right way is that which every one fliould be the 

 moft careful of, fince by miftaking at firft, much 

 time is loft, and an after expenpe of new trees often 

 attends it.. -/ . - 





i 



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ing, 



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' Anbthel" caufe of fruits ripening earlier now than tliey 

 foriji^rly did, may be from the length of time they 

 have been cultivated 1 for it is very certain, that moft 



,f6rts of plants have been greatly forwarded and im- 

 proved by culture,' withtn the fpace of thirty or forty 

 years, as may be known from the feveral forts of ef- 

 culent plants, which are cultivated in the kitchen- 

 gardens, and of which forts there are many which are 

 annually improving: and if we look back to the beft 

 French authors who have written on the fubjeft of 

 fruit-trees, we fliall find, that the times of ripening 

 of many forts of Pears are put down a month or fix 

 weeks later about fifty or fixty years ago, than they 

 are now found to ripen about Paris ; and here about 

 London it is much the fame, for I cannot find they 

 are tlieleaft forwarder in the times' of their ripening 



^ at Paris than at London. '. " ". *^ ■ 



The ripening of thefe fruits may alfo be accelerated 

 by the method of pruning and managing thefe trees, 

 which are greatly improved within the fpace of a few 

 years paft j for if we look into the direftions v/hich 



, are given by the beft writers on this fubjedt, we Ihall 

 foon difcover how little they knew fifty years ago, of 

 the true method of pruning and managing moft forts 

 of fruit-trees, fcarce one of them making any diffe- 

 rence in the management of the different kinds of fruit. 

 Pears are propagated by budding or grafting them 

 upon ftocks of their own kind, which are commonly 

 called free ftocks, or upon Quince ftocks, or White- 

 thorn, upon all which thefe fruits will take; but. the 

 latter fort of ftock is now feldom ufed, becaufe they 



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