MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 235 



land, Winter Xelie and Easter Beurre will keep till Oliristmas. Amonj^- 

 the new winter pears, Krull, Barry, Wilder and Fitz water are promi- 

 nently mentioned. There are well-tested varieties in all the fruit books. 



WINTER PEARS IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Since the modern method of keeping fall varieties of pears in cold 

 storage has prevailed, the line of classification for winter pears has 

 become somewhat uncertain. We tind in our Boston market in mid- 

 winter such varieties as Anjou, Bo3C, Dana's Hovey and the like, along- 

 side with Lawrence, Nelis and other strictly winter varieties. Still, it 

 is important to recognize a distinct difference, and this is in favor of 

 the winter kinds. Doubtless the fall kinds can be successfully kept 

 for an indefinite time in a temperature about at the freezing point, com- 

 ing out fair and with little or no shrinkage. But they have uotliad the 

 natural ripening process, and as a consequence all lack flavor. We 

 may be thankful that we have a sufficient number of late-keeping varie- 

 ties which require only ordinarily good treatment to bring them into 

 prime condition throughout the winter. The Lawrence, for example, 

 scarcely requires more care than winter apples, and in most soils it 

 produces as regularly and abundantly as the apple. The Winter ISTelis^ 

 is of slender, straggling growth, and will require high culture and care- 

 ful thinning of fruit to produce good results. Josephine de Malines 

 requires a long season to complete its growth, and should be planted 

 in a warm and strong soil, giving it good culture to the end of the sea- 

 son. As it sets its fruit in clusters, these should be thinned out to one 

 specimen, so as to obtain a moderate* number of large size, which 

 should be allowed to hang until endangered by frosts. In a warm posi- 

 tion, with a loamy-clay soil, the Easter, under high culture, will also 

 sufficiently mature its fruit to ripen it to perfection in March and April,, 

 and command very high prices. To those who have not the right con- 

 ditions, the two last-named varieties are not recommended, since they 

 do not attain their high quality except by receiving all their require- 

 ments. 



Our treatment of the fruit is simple. The picking is done on a 

 clear, dry day, into bushel boxes, as late in the fall as the weather will 

 admit. The fruit is then stored in a cold, rather moist cellar. If the 

 temperature can be kept near the freezing point, even the Lawrence 

 may be kept along through January, and the Josephine into May. As 

 the fruit is wanted, either for the table or for market, it should be placed 

 in drawers in a warm room for about ten days before it is used. This 

 will hasten the ripening process, and secure the right flavor in the 

 fruit. 



