POMOLOGICAL REFORM AND SELECTED FRUITS. 



217 



ike world. Some darling pets must be 

 excluded, and some very good sorts over- 

 looked ; We can't help it. 



Summer Pears.— Oni of the 5-5 named in 

 the catalogue of & Co., we recom- 

 mend the Bartlett, Bloodgood, Jargonelle, 

 (English,) Madeleine, and Rostiezer- — 5. 



Autumn Pears. — Of the 158, in same 

 catalogue, we select Beurre Bosc, Beurre 

 Capiaumont, Beurre d'Amanlis, Beurre de 

 Beaumont, Beurre Diel, Gansel's Berga- 

 mot. Doyenne Gris, Duchesse d'Angouleme, 

 Colmar d'Aremberg, Dunmore, Flemish 

 Beauty, Fondante d'Automne, Frederick 

 de Wurtemburg, Jalousie de Fontenay, 

 Vendee, Louise Bonne de Jerse}% Paradise 

 d'Automne, Urbaniste, and Van Mons' Leon 

 le Clerc— 18. 



Winter Pears. — -Beurre d'Aremberg, 

 Beurre Ranze, Columbia, Glout Morceau, 

 Ne Plus Meuris, Passe Colmar, and Win- 

 ter Nelis — 7. 



These 30 we know to he excellent ; the 

 following 5 we name on the authority of 

 others: — Duvernay, Jersey Gratioli, Les 

 Carnas, Beurr^ Langelier, and Suzette de 

 Bavay — 5. 



But there are 255 " additional rare varie- 

 ties of pears" to be disposed of, and here 

 *' lies the rub." What is to be done with 

 them ? If it is " difficult to name over 20 

 or 30 sorts really worthy of cultivation," 

 we dont see but Mr. Beecher's " writ of 

 ejectment" must be served on them, nolens 

 nolens. The splendid Doyennes, the mag- 

 nificent Beurres, and the beautiful Berga- 

 mots must be "thrust out;" not all the 

 Sucre in France can save them, "We ap- 

 prehend, however, that it is not so " diffi- 

 cult" as some persons suppose, to name 

 more than 20 or 30 varieties really worth 

 growing. The experience of Mr. Ti;oMp- 

 soN, of the Chiswick Gardens, will bear us 

 out in saying, that 50 sorts can be desig- 



nated, and all of them shall be of the first 

 class. But 20 of these shall be so much 

 like the remaining 30 in size, quality, and 

 appearance, as to render it useless to pos- 

 sess and cultivate them, unless for the sake 

 of variety in name. 



There are gentlemen, especially in the 

 vicinity of Boston, where the pear mania 

 has fixed its "head quarters," whose gar- 

 dens and orchards are filled, nay, crammed, 

 with pear trees. The good, bad, and indif- 

 ferent are all there, but " c«« boniV If 

 nurseries are estimated "by the size of 

 their catalogues," (and they are so, proba- 

 bly, by most persons,) that being the best 

 which "kicks up the greatest dust" about 

 " specimen grounds," " immense collec- 

 tions," " superior accuracy," &;c., how are 

 these amateurs to be considered ? Wit- 

 ness the published lists of the fruits exhi- 

 bited before the Horticultural Society of 

 Massachusetts by private and public culti- 

 vators. To what good end is the record of 

 a prodigious string of nam.es, if the valua- 

 ble and worthless are mingled, and nothing 

 indicates the one from the other? The 

 display upon the tables, and subsequently 

 upon paper, is doubtless pleasing ; there is 

 a charm about it, to be sure, but it is de- 

 ceptive ; too much of it vvill not bear a 

 more trustworthy test than that of being 

 seen and admired. Like the Belle de Brux' 

 elles Pear, it is all outside, — " totally worth- 

 less for any other purpose than to look at 

 or sell." 



It may be said that these large collec- 

 tions are grown for a better purpose than 

 making a display. It is to test them, to 

 ascertain which are good, and which not 

 good, that lies at the bottom of it all. Per- 

 haps this is true ; and, if true, it is very 

 proper ; for every fruit should be subjected 

 to a rigid investigation, ere it is pronounced 

 first quality, and this requires great expe- 



