46 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



fairest Fruit. I know one'of them near forty Foot high, that measures six 

 Foot and six Inches in Girt, a Yard from the Ground, and has borne thirty- 

 Bushels at a Time: and this year I measured an Orange Pear, that grew in my 

 own Orchard, of eleven Inches round the Bulge. I have a Warden Pear 

 Tree, that measures five Foot six Inches round. One of my Neighbors has 

 a Bergamot Pear Tree that was brought from England in a Box, about the 

 Year 1643, that now measures six Foot about, and has borne twenty-two 

 Bushels of fine Pears in one Year. About twenty years since, the Owner 

 took a Cyon, and grafted it upon a common Hedge Pear; but the Fruit 

 does not prove altogether so good, and the Rind or Skin, is thicker than 

 that of the Original." 



Thus, early in the history of Massachusetts, the pear was largely 

 planted and became a prominent fruit. These early plantations grew so 

 well that no doubt they inspired the horticulturists of the first half of the 

 nineteenth century, of which the names of Dearborn, Hovey, Kenrick, 

 the two Mannings, and Wilder are notable in the history of the pear in 

 this country, to undertake the popularization of this fruit by extensive 

 culture, by breeding new varieties, and by the introduction of the best 

 pears from Europe. Their work, as we shall see later, gave pear-growing 

 its first great impetus in America. Until the middle of the last century, 

 the pear industry in America centered in Massachusetts; and most of the 

 new varieties which originated in this country and nearly all of the intro- 

 ductions from abroad came from that state. 



The pear was not neglected in the other New England states as the 

 horticultural records of all attest, but its history in the several states is 

 so similar in time and events that the account of its early culture in Massa- 

 chusetts suffices for the whole region. It must, however, be noted that 

 the pear was introduced in Maine at a very early date, probably by the 

 French. In an orchard on the east bank of the Sheepscot, below Wis- 

 casset Bay, a venerable pear-tree stood until early in the nineteenth century 

 of such girt and height that it was supposed to be more than 200 years old. 

 Of the planting of this orchard there are no records nor traditions. The 

 most reasonable supposition was that the trees had been planted there by 

 the French in one of the several attempts of France to colonize the coast 

 of Maine. ^ 



This introduction of the French in the history of the pear in the New 

 World, brings us to a discussion of the part they took in bringing this fruit 

 to America. The debt to France for early horticulture in America rests 



' Report of Me. Pom. Soc. 7: 1873. 



