Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears. 65 



Size, large, about three inches long, and two and a half in 

 diameter : Form, obtusely pyramidal, with an uneven sur- 

 face, full at the crown, and tapering to an obtuse point at 

 the stem : Skin, slightly rough, dull yellowish green, with 

 radiating streaks of russet from the stem, and somewhat traced 

 with the same on one side, little tinged with red in the sun, 

 and covered with numerous small, dark green specks: Stem, 

 long, about one and a half inches, rather slender, curved, and 

 inserted without any cavity, often on one side of the obtuse 

 end, surrounded with small, uneven lobes : Eije, small, open, 

 and rather deeply sunk in a small, smooth basin ; segments of 

 the calyx very short, rounded : Flesh, yellowish white, fine, 

 melting, and juicy : Flavor, saccharine, vinous, highly per- 

 fumed and delicious : Core, medium size : Seeds, medium 

 size, obtusely pointed. Ripe in October, and keeps some time. 



90. FiGUE. 



The Catalogue of the London Horticultural Society, the 

 Bon Jardinier, and various French pomologists, describe a 

 pear under the above name, but there is some doubt as to its 

 identity with the one now under notice. The Catalogue oiXhQ 

 London Horticultural Society, in the 2d edition, (1831), de- 

 scribes the Figue as second size and second quality, but, in the 

 3d edition, (1842.) it is elevated to a higher rank, viz., second 

 size and first quality, and, at the same time, it is designated 

 as one of those kinds which "has proved false, or has been 

 lost, or, for some other reason, is no longer in the garden." 

 So far, hov/ever, as color, form, size, and quality go, there 

 would be but little reason to doubt that our Figue is the same 

 as that above mentioned ; but the season is stated to be Sep- 

 tember, and the remark added in the Catalogue, that it "soon 

 decays," a remark, by the way, Avhich cannot apply to our 

 pear : for its season is not only two months later, but it keeps 

 well for some time. It is true that its period of maturity may 

 vary considerably between the climate of England and our 

 own, and that this is a too little reliable characteristic to 

 doubt upon. This may be. But, for the present, in the ab- 

 sence of more information, we shall consider it a distinct pear. 



The specimen from which our drawing {fig. 10,) was made 

 6* 



