PEARS FOR ORCHARD CULTURE. 



501 



the wood has generally a brown appear- 

 ance, but, in some soils, will be of a light 

 yellow ; the leaves incline to fold together ; 

 buds, on the year old wood, very flat ; good 

 specimens of fruit will frequently measure 

 five inches in length, and from three to 

 four in breadth, and always have a fine 

 yellow appearance, sometimes tinged on 

 one side with red. 



Duchess d'Angouleme. This well known 

 variety, taking into consideration all its qua- 

 lities for orchard planting, and for profit, 

 probably has very few superiors, unless it 

 be the Onondaga, a fruit which is similar 

 in size, and ripens at nearly the same 

 time. But the Onondaga is of late intro- 

 duction ; and when w^e take into considera- 

 tion the high character given to all new 

 fruits, when first brought into notice, plant- 

 ers on a large scale will require it to be 

 more generally tested, before planting it so 

 extensively as older sorts. I am aware, 

 that with cultivators in some localities, the 

 d'Angouleme is not always considered high 

 flavored ; but when we take into considera- 

 tion its large size and fine bearing proper- 

 ties, I doubt whether we have anything as 

 yet superior. To be sure, there are many 

 smaller sized pears, that are undoubtedly 

 of superior flavor ; yet, as 1 have previously 

 stated, this sort has many valuable proper- 

 ties. It is very often high flavored, almost 

 always of large size, and keeps well after 

 gathering ; so that it may be sent to market 

 a great distance. For profit, it also has its 

 merits. One acre of ground planted with 

 this sort, in the vicinity of New- York, will 

 yield a better remuneration to the planter 

 than perhaps any other sort that can be se- 

 lected. I would also state that I have a 

 tree of this variety, on pear stock, planted 

 in 1828, which has been in bearing for the 

 last fifteen years, and I believe has never 

 failed in producing a good crop. Some 



seasons the pears have been high flavored ; 

 and again, when a large crop was left on 

 the tree, they were not so good, but, at the 

 same time, they would have brought a good 

 price in market. I do not recollect any- 

 thing very peculiar about the leaves or 

 wood of this pear, as distinct from many 

 other varieties. It is a remarkably fine, 

 erect grower ; the young wood, in some 

 soils, will very often have a reddish brown 

 appearance ; the buds are also always very 

 prominent, (that is, projecting out from the 

 young shoots.) The size of this pear is 

 about the same as the Bartlett ; but it is 

 often much larger, of an oblong shape, and 

 very blunt at the stem, which is gene- 

 rally inserted in a cavity considerably sunk- 

 en. This variety is particularly well adapt- 

 ed for growing on the quince stock. It 

 ripens in October, and keeps sometimes 

 until the latter part of November. [We 

 cannot rate the d'Angouleme so high as an 

 orchard pear. Ed.] 



Louise Bonne de Jersey has been in 

 cultivation for the last ten or twelve years, 

 and, I believe, is generally allowed to be a 

 pear of superior excellence. However, this 

 variety has, I think, in this country, been 

 chiefly fruited on quince stocks, to which 

 it seems well adapted, — producing fine, fair 

 specimens of fruit, and of high flavor. Whe- 

 ther it will do as well on the pear stock, 

 for orchard planting, will probably require 

 a few more years to determine. I know 

 that almost every person considers this 

 pear one of the best. . It certainly is so, on 

 the quince stock, on which, as I remarked, 

 the greater part of the fruit has been pro- 

 duced ; but I believe, as yet, it has not 

 been produced, in any quantity, on the 

 pear stock. It does not appear to me al- 

 ways safe to judge of the qualities of fruits, 

 for orchard planting, when they first come 

 into bearing. I think we have abundant 



