VARIETIES AND NOMENCLATURE. 807 



after they are ripe. The art of gathering is, to give them a lift, so 

 as to press away the stalk, and if ripe, they readily part from the 

 tree. Let them be quite dry when pulled, and in Handling, avoid 

 pinching the fruit, or in any way bruising it ; as gathered, lay them 

 quietly in shallow baskets." 



This process of gathering at the proper time, in connection with 

 their after maturing, in a fruit-room or house of equable temperature, 

 has often very much to do in deciding the quality of a pear. Many 

 varieties are entirely* worthless as dessert pears, unless so ripened, 

 when, with this care, they are really the most delicious. 



The old criterion of a good pear, viz. : one with a sugary aromatic 

 juice, soft sub-liquid pulp or melting, as in the White Doyenne, or 

 fine crisp and " breaking," as in the Bergamottes ; firm, juicy, yet 

 austere for cooking, as in the Pound, is equally good at tliis day as 

 when first written. 



The common uses of the pear are for dessert, baking, stewing, 

 drying, preserving, marmalades, and for perry. For the latter use, 

 large orchards of the more common hardy sorts have heretofore 

 been planted, and the result found more profitable than the same 

 amount of ground appropriated to the apple for cider. 



Varieties and Nomenclature. — The number of varieties now known 

 is something over 1200, but of these it is more than probable over 

 1000 may be discarded, and then leave more than have qualities to 

 sustain their continued culture when compared with the best. Through- 

 out the West, the pear culture is only in its infancy, and we there- 

 fore place far less in our first class than probably may seem worthy 

 that position by our Eastern pear amateurs ; but we would rather 

 our Western growers should plant varieties worthy their attention, 

 than, as a whole, devote time to testing. We shall not pretend in 

 this work to even note all varieties, but shall only speak of those 

 most known in our own language, while we could wish (and pro- 

 bably may do so, as far as possible, at a future time) to transfer 

 all names into the English language ; we have at this time thought 

 best in most cases to retain the foreign name, but in the first class 

 giving the English meaning directly underneath, and in same size 

 type. In other cases where the English rendering seemed appro- 

 priate, we have adopted it as the standard name, giving the heretofore 

 standard name as the first synonym. 



Forms and Size comparative. — Our forms illustrative of the terms 

 used in description, are from the Transactions of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society. These are founded on the fundamental 

 figure of a circle, and on this is drawn the form of the fruit ; and 

 where the circle forms not a part of the fruit form, it is shown by 

 dots. It should always be recollected, that in the pear, pyriform is 

 with the small end at the stem ; while ii the apple it is at the 

 calyx. 



