124 



THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



BARTLETT 



I. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 334, fig. 134. 1845. 2. Horticulturist 2:169. 1847-48- 3- Proc Nat. 

 Con. Fr. Gr. 29. 1848. 4. Hovey Fr. Am. 2:11, PL 1851. 5. Horticulturist N. S. 3:350, PI- i853- 

 6. Field Pear Cult. 190, 276, fig. 66. 1858. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 666, fig. 1869. 8. Ont. Dept. 

 Agr. Fr. Ont. 148, fig. 1914. 



Williams' Bon Chretien. 9. Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 350. 1831. 10. Prince Pom. Man. 1:137. 

 1831. II. Hogg Fruit Man. 664. 1884. 



Williams' Apothekerbirne. 12. Dochnahl FUhr. Obstkunde 2:181. 1856. 



Bon Chretien Williams'. 13. Pom. France i: No. 16, PI. 16. 1863. 14. Mas Le Verger 2:23, fig. 10. 



1866-73- 



Williams. 15. Levoy Diet. Pom. 2:758, fig. 1869. 



Williams Christbirne. 16. Lauche Deut. Pom. II: No. 18, PI. 18. 1882. 17. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 

 298. 1889. 



Bartlett leads all other pears in nvimber of trees in New York, and vies 

 with Kieffer for the greatest number in America. Its fruits are more com- 

 mon and more popular in American markets than those of any other pear. 

 When the characters of the variety are passed in review, although several 

 poor ones of fruit and tree appear, the popularity of Bartlett with growers 

 and sellers, if not with consimiers, seems justified. As with the leading 

 variety of any fruit, the preeminently meritorious character of this one is 

 its great adaptability to different climates, soils, and situations. Thus, 

 Bartlett is grown with profit in every pear-growing region in America and 

 in all is grown in greater quantities than any other sort excepting, perhaps, 

 the notorious Kieffer. Another character which commends this variety to 

 pear-growers is fruitfulness — barring frosts or freezes, the trees bear ftoll 

 crops year after year. Moreover, the trees are very vigorous, attain large 

 size, bear young, live long, are easily managed in the orchard, and thrive on 

 both standard and quince stocks. The pears are large, handsome, of good 

 but not of the best quality, and keep and ship remarkably well. 



Bartlett is not without serious faults, however. The trees blight 

 badly, and are not much above the average in resistance to blight, the black 

 plague of the pear. Neither are they as hardy to cold or to heat as those 

 of some other varieties. They are scarcely hardier to cold than those of 

 the peach, and cannot withstand the summer heat of the southern, or of 

 the Mississippi Valley states. Another serious defect of the trees is that, 

 more than those of any other standard variety, their blossoms require cross- 

 fertilization. The fruits are satisfactory in all characters excepting quality. 

 There are many better-flavored pears. The fruits lack the rich, perfumed 

 flavor of Seckel on one hand, and the piquant, vinous taste of Winter Nelis 

 on the other. But the pears are much above the average in quality, and 



