12 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



nomenclature from Bon Chretien to Boncrutching. 

 One of the sub-varieties of this fruit is known as the 

 William pear. Amongst our old best autumn pears 

 stands the Jargonelle, which, Mrs. Bernard states, 

 consists of little more than eau sucree enclosed in a 

 rind ; the analysis of De CandoUe showing that when 

 ripe, it contains S3"8o per cent, of water, and ii'52 

 per cent, of sugar. 



The same authoress informs us, that though we 

 owe both the fruit and its title to France, by some 

 strange contretemps the name there is given to quite 

 a different kind. Our Jargonelle is called by the 

 extraordinary appellation of Grosse Cuisse Madame, 

 or great ladies' thighs. The German Frauen Schenkel 

 has the same meaning. The pear as a dessert fruit 

 is generally preferred to the apple ; still the latter, 

 according to the old nursery rhyme, " An apple for 

 the king, and a pear for the queen," appears to have 

 taken priority in our forefathers' days. It is also used 

 for baking, compotes, marmalade, &c. Loudon tells 

 us that in France they dry large quantities which 

 remain good for two or three years, and are used for 

 pies, as apples are in England. We do not know 

 for certain if this art of drying pears was practised 

 in the days of the Tudors, but Shakespeare mentions 

 one in his "Merry Wives of Windsor." Falstaffe 

 says, " I warrant they would whip me with their fine 

 wits, till I were as crestfallen as a dried pear." 

 (Act iv. s. 5.) 



The pear-tree is extensively cultivated in different 

 parts of Worcester and Herefordshire for the purpose 

 of making perry. Dr. Bell tells us that Worcester- 

 shire was famous for this kind of fruit at a very early 

 period, for there is a pear orchard at Newland, near 

 Malvern, which is known to have existed more than 

 400 years. Drayton states in his poetical account of 

 the battle of Agincourt, that the feudal retainers of 

 the Beauchamps, and other great landowners, who 

 vowed suit and service to the crown, bore as their 

 standard in the field a pear-tree laden with fruit. 

 The people of that county have long adopted the 

 pear as an emblem, and at the present day the arms 

 of the city of Worcester are represented by three 

 black pears, known by the name of the iron -hearted . 

 Many pear and apple-trees in this country seem to 

 enjoy a green old age, unconscious of decay. Loudon 

 states that some trees in his time growing at 

 Twickenham, which in all probability were from the 

 nursery of Gerard's *' curious and cunning graffer 

 Master Richard Rointer." He also mentions these 

 fruit-trees growing in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh 

 Abbey in good health and abundant bearers, said to 

 be from 500 to 600 years old. Loudon mentions a 

 very extraordinary pear-tree growing on the glebe 

 lands in the parish of Hom-Lacey, which more than 

 once produced enough fruit to fill fifteen hogsheads 

 of perry in the same year. The growth of this tree 

 ivas also abnormal, for when its branches became 

 long and heavy their extreme ends touched tlie 



ground, they took root, and, like the Banyan of India, 

 sent up fresh shoots and became a tree which in due 

 time repeated the process, so that in 1805 nearly half 

 an acre of land was covered by this tree. The 

 coarser varieties of pear, whose fruit has rather an 

 austere taste, are used for perry, which is made much 

 in tlie same way as cider ; it is sweeter than that 

 beverage and is extensively drunk in some places. 



Like the apple, there are now several hundred 

 varieties of pears to be found cultivated in the United 

 Kingdom ; some of the French varieties have retained 

 their original names, but many corruptions have 

 been produced in their popular nomenclature. Thus 

 the Bon Chretien is converted into Boncrutching % 

 the Beurre into the Bury, the Chaumontelle into 

 Charmingtel. Some have curious local names, such 

 as bishops' thumbs, &c. 



Mr. Robert Holland says in " Notes and Queries" 

 that they have an old variety in Cheshire which, on 

 account of its juiciness (juicy by comparison, for it is 

 by no means as melting as the pears of the present 

 day), rejoices in the elegant sobriquet of Slobber- 

 chops. 



The pear is not indigenous to America, but, like the 

 apple, an introduced fruit. Since its introduction 

 hundreds of varieties suited to the climate and soil 

 have been produced, so that our European pears such 

 as the Bon Chretien, Jargonelle and others are con- 

 sidered only second-rate fruit by the Americans. 

 The Channel Islands, particularly Jersey, send large 

 quantities of this fruit to the English market. Those 

 enormous pears, the Great St. Germains, which one 

 sees in Covent Garden market, price thirty-six 

 shillings each, come from these islands ; also the early 

 Jargonelle, Bon Chretien, Jersey, Louise, Bonne and 

 the Chaumontel have been known to fetch £,^ per 

 hundred. Botanically, the pear belongs to the 

 Rosacea family, and is closely allied to the apple-tree, 

 from which it is distinguished by its pyramidal form 

 of growth. In its wild state it is rather a small tree, 

 with an inclination to become thorny ; its leaves are 

 ovate and serrated, smooth without glands. The- 

 flowers are rather large and a pure white. Under 

 cultivation the thorns disappear, and fruit buds are 

 formed instead ; its leaves are less sharply serrated, 

 sometimes only crenated, and frequently almost 

 entire. The timber of the pear-tree is of a yellow 

 colour. Gerard says the timber of the wild-pear is 

 very firm and solid, and good to be cut into moulds. 

 The plates for his Herbal were cut out of this wood, 

 as were, says he, breast-plates for English gentle- 

 women. In the present day it is much used by the 

 turners and pattern makers ; the blocks with which 

 the designs for floor-cloths are painted are made 

 from pear-wood. When dyed black it can scarcely 

 be distinguished from ebony. Handles for caqDenters" 

 tools, measuring rules, &c., are made from this wood, 

 The wood of the pear makes excellent fuel, gives 

 out an intense heat with a bright flame. The leaves 



