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such as Newtown Pippins, Spitzenburgs, Baldwins, and Greenings. From these 
cities 100,000 barrels were sent each week for several successive weeks : yet, on 
their arrival at Liverpool, Glasgow, and London, there was scarcely an apple 
bruised. So great is the profit the growers there make that their apples in this 
country ought to be sold cheaper, as, ‘‘in the Western and Southern States,” says 
Dr. Nichols, ‘‘the finest apples cost less than three half-pence a bushel—less than 
a single good apple often costs in London.” But the time may come when they 
will be, as the vast trade with America is yet in its infancy, and apples, like 
oranges, bear a long sea-voyage well. It is from Michigan, by the way, that the 
** Royal Favourite‘ comes, of which twenty barrels are sent to Windsor Castle © 
each year, as they have been for the last thirty years. 
But while the Americans can beat us in apples, we can still hold our own in 
pears, though many of our best ones are of such olden date. Thus that very old 
one, the October Bergamotte, dates as far back as the time of Julius Cesar, and 
the Easter one from the reign of Elizabeth ; the Summer Bon Chrétien was known 
to us in 1629, and the Early Beurré at the Restoration; the Angélique de Bor- 
deaux was introduced in 1700, our Jargonelle and Vergouleuse in 1727, and the 
Chaumontelle in 1760, as was the delicious Doyenné d’Or. Miller’s list too of 
that day includes, as amongst the best, the Black Pear of Worcester for cooking, 
and Lord Cheyne’s pear for eating. The flavour, however, of much of our fruit 
depends on the time of gathering, and that time varies with sorts and situation. 
Thus, fruit in the Midland Counties does not ripen until a month after that 
in the Channel Islands, while that grown in Scotland is later still. 
Fruit-growers, in planting different sorts, plant both late and early ones, so 
as to ensure for the markets a succession of crops—ranging from the Jargonelle 
in August to the Napoleon in November. Amongst these, the fine Seckle pear is 
of American origin, and the Louise Bonne grows best in Scotland. Many of the 
autumn pears will, with proper care, keep some time ; but the real keepers are the 
winter ones, and these range from Crasanne in November, to the Winter Beurré 
in March ; and when from Jersey—that very land of pears—the welcome Chau- 
montelles cease to come, three sorts will carry us on till June, the Easter Beurré, 
Beurré Rance, and the Josephine de Malines; when the end of that month will 
give us the small Saint Jean, and in July we have the Windsor. So that, if the 
grower knows his business, he can market pears all the year. 
Fruit gathering, with us, begins in September, commencing with the early 
sorts of pot-fruit, and also such as are wanted for perry and cider; the former 
being used as soon as picked, and the latter being heaped together. The pot-fruit, 
however, is but of little account, as growers will not take the trouble to properly 
pack it, and it is, therefore, more often sent to the heap than it is to the county 
imarket. Where, however, choice sorts are grown and care is used, the apples, if 
for hoine use, are laid softly in a basket, taken from the orchard, and placed side by 
side in the fruit-room, where the light must be shut out and the frost prevented. 
If, on the contrary, they have to be sent for sale, (and they should all be picked 
before the end of October), they should be gathered when dry, handled gently, and 
packed softly in boxes or in baskets, wool or paper being placed under and over, 
