410 



THE GROWTH AND HABITS OF PEARS. 



of its drooping habit with age. It bears 

 singly on the ends of the branches. The 

 quality of this pear is generally allowed to 

 be very good. It grows well on the pear 

 stock, but poorly on the quince. 



Vicar of Winhjield is a strong growing, 

 vigorous sort, and is also a great twister, 

 when young, with large, glossy, broad, 

 heart-shaped leaves. It is very similar in 

 habit to Beurre Diel, but retains its foliage 

 better than that variety. It produces very 

 fair fruit, of a long, pyriform shape ; and 

 when grown on quince stocks, the pears 

 will frequently have a bright red cheek. 

 It is a valuable sort for market, — selling 

 readily ; but will only be used as a desert 

 fruit when melting varieties are not to be 

 had. It grows on the pear and quince, and is 

 a particularly good sort for the latter stock. 



Passe Colinar is a moderate grower. The 

 wood of young trees is generally of a light 

 j^ellow appearance. The tops of this va- 

 riety also turn down more or less, especially 

 on one and two year old trees. On the 

 quince stock, however, I have observed that 

 this habit is less marked. The habit of the 

 tree somewhat resembles that of Maria 

 Louise. It is a tolerably good early winter 

 pear, and produces fruit generally in clus- 

 ters on the ends of the branches. It grows 

 both on the quince and pear stock. 



Beurre Diel is a good hardy orchard tree. 

 Branches drooping and twisting more or 

 less when young, and frequently leaning a 

 little to one side on young trees. The foli- 

 age is large, the whole habit vigorous, and 

 it is one of the very best sorts for growing 

 on quince stocks. This pear is not always 

 of as fine flavor as it has been represented ; 

 but taking into consideration its productive- 

 ness, and large size, and fine appearance, 

 it must be ranked, for orchard planting, one 

 of the most valuable varieties. 



Hessel is one of those hardy, productive 



sorts, that yield fruit in great abundance, 

 and will succeed, sometimes, in soils and 

 climates where many of the Beurres will 

 not. The habit of this tree is only partially 

 drooping. It branches low, and makes a 

 good low spreading tree, with gray wood. 

 It has some resemblance to Maria Louise 

 in the wood, but not in the leaves. The 

 tree is less drooping. The fruit is of a fine 

 yellow appearance, with gray dots, beauti- 

 ful to look at, but lacking juice to make it 

 first rate. It ripens with me in the last of 

 August. 



English Jargonelle. This is a well known 

 old variety. The wood has a very dark ap- 

 pearance, and the tree, when without leaves, 

 is mistaken by some, who are not familiar 

 with the wood of pears, for an apple. It 

 is of vigorous growth, and always, when 

 young, leans to one side. The side branch- 

 es are twisting ; leaves large, round, heart- 

 shaped, and often with a downy appear- 

 ance when young. It maks a large spread- 

 ing tree in the orchard, and was formerly 

 considered, by English cultivators, one of 

 the best early pears. It does not prove 

 such here, and must give way to other 

 early kinds, of superior flavor. It is, how- 

 ever, a good bearer, but coming into mar- 

 ket about the same time as the Windsor, or 

 Summer Bell, which the aforesaid a good 

 deal resembles, and being of very little 

 better quality than the Windsor, which is 

 rather larger and a prodigious bearer ; 

 these qualities make it more valuable than 

 the Jargonelle. Indeed, there are proba- 

 bly few early pears, ripening about the 

 first of August, which will yield a better 

 profit to the orchardist than the Windsor ; 

 immense quantities of it being sold in the 

 markets for baking pears. This variety is 

 readily known from the Jargonelle by its 

 strong upright growth. Both sorts grow 

 on pear or quince stocks. 



