; 
ROSACEA. 253 
descendants of the fruit-trees planted around the Roman villas ; but it is more likely 
that the monks were its first cultivators here ; and we still find gigantic Pear-trees 
standing on the sites of old monastic gardens and around the ruins of abbeys and 
monasteries. The Pear is mentioned by Chaucer, and in the time of Henry VIII. it 
appears that the “Warden Pear” (so called from its property of keeping) was in cultiva- 
tion. Gerarde enumerates seven sorts of what he calls “tame pears,” and says, “ those 
most rare and good are growing in the garden of Master Richard Pointer, a most cun- 
ning and curious graffer and planter of all manner of rare fruits, dwelling in a small 
village neere London called Twickenham ; and also in the ground of an excellent graffer 
and painfull planter, Mr. Henry Banbury, of Touthill Street, neere Westminster ; and 
likewise in the ground of a diligent and most affectionate lover of plants, Mr. Warner, 
neere Horseydowne, by London ; and in divers other grounds about London.” To this 
is added, in 1596: “ Most of the best peares are at this day to be had with Mr. John 
Miller, in Old Street, in whose nursery are to be found the choicest fruits this kingdome 
yields.” With regard to the great variety of Pears now in cultivation, we can but quote 
Gerarde’s words, who in his day found it impossible to describe all that were then in 
use : what would he now have said to see any of our horticultural lists? He observes : 
“To describe each apart were to send an owl to Athens, or to number those things that 
are without number.” Turner, in 1573, in his list of fruits, mentions “ peeres of all 
sorts.” Parkinson enumerates sixty-four sorts ; Mortimer, in 1708, has many sorts ; 
and Miller has selected eighty sorts. The catalogue published by the Horticultural 
Society in 1835 contained 677 kinds, and it is from this list that most of our writers 
on horticulture quote ; still, we know that there are constantly additions made to the 
number of Pears in cultivation, and great improvements in their treatment. . 
The choice of Pears depends greatly on the purposes for which they are to be used, 
and gardeners select them accordingly. Worcestershire, Herefordshire, and Devonshire 
are the chief counties in England where Pears are grown. In the armorial bearings of 
Worcestershire we find three pears introduced, and we believe the perry made in that 
county excels any other save that produced in France and the Channel Islands. We 
find in Don’s “Gardener’s Dictionary” the following directions as to the choice of 
Pears :—“ Dessert Pears are characterized by a sugary aromatic juice, with the pulp soft 
and subliquid or melting, as in the Beurres or Butter Pears. Kitchen Pears should 
be of large size, with the flesh firm, neither breaking nor melting, and rather austere 
than sweet, as the Wardens. Perry Pears may be either large or small, but the more 
austere the taste the better will be the liquor. Excellent perry was made from the 
Wild Pear.” 
The great use of the Pear-tree is for its fruit ; but it is by no means an unpicturesque 
tree in a landscape ; and in the spring, when covered with its white blossoms, we can 
seldom see a prettier sight. It would be well to remember that with the very same 
trouble and expense that is often employed to produce inferior kinds of Pears, might 
be grown the very best sorts, and that the quality of the timber and the effect ina 
landscape is as good in a tree yielding a fine-flavoured juicy fruit as in one that pro- 
duces fruit which is dry, hard, and gritty. Not only are Pears used in their natural 
state as a dessert fruit, but they are equally good when stewed or preserved. In France 
and Belgium the fruit is very generally dried in ovens, in which state it forms an article 
of commerce, and will keep good for a year. In France they are prepared in two se: 
—either simply dried in an oven, or preserved as we see them in boxes in the grocers 
shops. This latter mode of preparation consists in gathering them before they are 
quite ripe, care being taken to preserve the stalk. ‘They are then parboiled in very 
