16 INTKODUCTION. 



failure to obtain the fruit, cannot, from the limited 

 character of this work, be discussed at length. The 

 Pear has proved, by experience, to be adapted to as 

 wide a range of territory in the United States as the 

 Apple ; and on the lighter soils of the Atlantic coast, 

 to be much more productive. We are beginning to 

 learn, too, what varieties are adapted to special local- 

 ities and soils ; and amid the great multitude of 

 excellent kinds, it will not be difficult to find some 

 that will succeed, with ease, in the most unfavorable 

 location. 



"We are not confined now, as formerly, to a single 

 variety, that ripened in August or September, whose 

 evanescent excellence vanished in a day or two ; but 

 by a skillful selection of varieties, we extend the enjoy- 

 ment of this king of fruits over a period of eight 

 or nine months — or from August to May. 



A great advance has also been made in the quality 

 of the fruit ; for in place of the dry and mealy Sugar- 

 Pear, the insipid Jargonelle, and the griping Winter- 

 Bell, we have obtained the Flemish Beauty, the 

 Duchesse, and the Easter Beurre. 



That we shall continue to make great progress in 

 the knowledge of varieties, their propagation and 

 improvement, can hardly be doubted, as long as such 

 intelligent and enthusiastic men as Downing, Wilder, 

 Bekckmans, Hovey, Bakrt, Thomas, and Bkinckle, 

 continue to cultivate the Pear. To them the pomolo- 

 gists of this country owe a large debt of gi-atitude ; 

 and to them I am indebted for much that is valuable 

 in this treatise. 



