VARIETIES. 211 



This noble Pear is one of the few hardy and profitable varieties 

 produced by artificial cultivation or design. It is a seedling of Van 

 MoNs, named in honor of his friend, Dr. Diel ; and will preserve 

 the memory of the latter longer than any act of his own busy and hon- 

 orable life. It is one of the most vigorous varieties in its growth, 

 and is perfectly successful on the Quince ; and like the Duchesse, its 

 flavor is greatly improved by that stock. On pear-roots, or when 

 gro^^^l on cold soils, or while the trees are very young, the fruit is apt 

 to be astringent and coarse ; and I have known excellent cultivators, 

 unaware of its demands, to regraft the Diel trees with inferior 

 varieties. While young, it is a shy bearer ; and when in full bearing, 

 the fruit is so regularly distributed through the tree that thinning 

 is seldom necessary. The fruit is abundant in juice, of rich sub- 

 acid flavor, half-melting, somewhat coarse-grained near the core. 

 The skin is thick, and somewhat astringent, and should be removed 

 before the fruit is eaten. It is obtuse pyriform in shape, of a russet 

 lemon yellow ; stem a little more than an inch long. Its period 

 of ripening may be prolonged from 1st October to December by 

 picking early, and packing in close boxes in dry, cool rooms. It 

 needs more care in ripening than some others. The shoots are a 

 dark brown, tinged with gray; inclined to twist with abrupt 

 curves. Vigorous pruning is necessary to produce well-shaped 

 pyramids. 



In the grounds of Mr. Winchester, of New Haven, trees of this 

 variety, six or seven years old, which were models of beauty in 

 shape, produced a crop of fruit in 1856, of which very few speci- 

 mens weighed less than fourteen ounces, and a considerable num- 

 ber more than a pound. 



At one of the Massachusetts Horticultural Exhibitions, twelve 

 Beurre Diel Pears were shown which weighed fourteen pounds ; 

 and Mr. Barry exhibited four of the same variety, raised in Iowa, 

 which weighed nearly five pounds. 



