154 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



The parent tree of Doyenne du Cornice was taken from the first seed 

 bed made in the fruit-garden of the Comice Horticole, Angers, Department 

 of Maine-et-Loire, France. In November, 1849, it produced its first fruit, 

 which was at once so highly esteemed that it was named Doyenne du 

 Comice. It was placed on the market with unusual promptitude and rapidly 

 distributed in foreign lands, reaching America about 1850. The variety 

 was recommended for general cultivation by the American Pomological 

 Society in 1862. 



Tree vigorous, characteristically upright, dense, usually productive; branches smooth, 

 dull gray mingled with greenish-brown, marked with large lenticels; branchlets long, 

 brown tinged with red, glabrous, with many small, slightly raised, conspicuous lenticels. 



Leaf -buds large, medium to long, conical, pointed, nearly free; leaf-scars prominent. 

 Leaves 3j in. long, 13 in. wide, oval, leathery; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long. 

 Flower-buds short, conical, free; blossoms open late; flowers ij in. across, in dense clusters, 

 about 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels | in. long, slender, pubescent, light green. 



Fruit ripe in late October and November; large, 3 in. long, 25 in. wide, obovate-obtuse- 



pyriform or roundish, with unequal sides; stem 15 in. long, very thick, usually curved; 



cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted and wrinkled, often with a fleshy ring around the 



base of the stem; cahrx open; lobes separated at the base, long, narrow, acuminate; basin 



medium to wide, obtuse, often furrowed; skin tough and granular, smooth except for the 



russet markings, dull; color clear yellow, often with a very faint russet-red blush on the 



exposed cheek, the surface heavily covered with large patches and nettings of attractive 



russet; dots many, verj' small, dark brown, obscure; flesh tinged strongly with yellow, 



fine-grained near the outside but granular toward the core, melting, tender, buttery, very 



juicy, sweet and vinous, aromatic; quality very good to best. Core closed, with clasping 



core-lines; calj'x-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, rather plump, acute, 



often abortive. 



DUCHESSE D'ANGOUL^ME 



I. Kenrick Am. Orch. 171. 1832. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 381. 1845. 3. Ann. Pom. Beige 

 1:21, PI. 1853. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1862. 5. Pom. France i: No. 17, PI. 17. 1863. 6. Mas 

 Le Verger 3: Ft. 2, 79, fig. 136. 1866-73. 7. Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:98, figs. 1869. 8. Jour. Hort.N. S. 

 24:26. 1873. g. Guide Prat. 5g, 267. 1876. 10. Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 182(1-78. 224. 1880. 11. Hogg 

 Fruit Man. 569. 1884. 



Duchess of An gouleme. 12. Lindley Guide Orch. Card. ^yi. 1831. 



Angouleme. 13. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883. 



Herzogin von Angouleme. 14. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 46, PI. 43. 1894. 



The fruits of Duchesse d'Angouleme excite admiration and wonder by 

 their enormous size. They may always be known by their great size, 

 squat pyxiform shape, and uneven knobby stirfaces. Well grown, the pears 

 have other virtues than size, as the flesh is buttery and melting with a rich 

 and delicious flavor; but poorly grown, and on unfavorable soils, the flesh 

 is granular, coarse-grained, but half -melting and nearly devoid of the rich- 



