6 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



and, above all, fig and date-palm; and men try to find the suitable remedies 

 for this. This is the reason for the process called ' caprification ' ; gall- 

 insects come out of the wild figs which are hanging there, eat the tops 

 of the cultivated figs, and so make them swell." The growth of the pear 

 on various soils and in diverse situations is compared; he makes mention 

 of a "peculiar, red and hairy worm" which infested the pear of these old 

 Greek orchards. In Pontus, it is stated, " pears and apples are abundant 

 in a great variety of forms and are excellent." " General diseases " are 

 enumerated as " those of being worm-eaten, sun-scorched, and rot." 

 Certain affections due to season and situation are mentioned, as freezing, 

 scorching, and injury from winds. 



This is but a brief epitome of what Theophrastus writes of the pomology 

 of the Greeks, and only topics in which the pear is specifically mentioned 

 are set down and not all of these. By inference, one who reads Theophrastus 

 might apply much more to the pear. Yet enough has been said to prove 

 the point that pear culture was as well established in Greece 300 years 

 B. C. as in 1900 years A. D. One leaves Theophrastus, satisfied that 

 pear-growers of his day had about the same problems that growers have 

 nowadays and solved them by the same sort of reasoning intelligence. 



In crediting Theophrastus as the earliest writer on pomology, we may 

 assume that there were earlier writers from whom he must have received 

 much knowledge. Perhaps greater writers on botany and pomology 

 preceded him, since he cites older authors on the same subjects whose 

 books have been lost. His alone of the books of its kind have come down 

 to us from ancient Greece. Theophrastus was the friend and pupil of 

 Aristotle, another philosopher and prince of science, and both in turn 

 were taught by Plato. Who shall say, then, from whence Theophrastus 

 received his knowledge? Aristotle is said to have written two books on 

 botany antedating the Enquiry into Plants of Theophrastus, neither of 

 which has survived the passing centuries. May not these great minds 

 have been indebted to authors whose books and names have perished? 

 These speculations serve to remind us again that the beginnings of botany 

 and pomology long antedate written records. 



There were Greeks who wrote on agriculture after Theophrastus, 

 and before the Roman treatises on farm management, a few of which 

 are to be mentioned in the next topic. Of books, as monuments of vanished 

 minds, however, there are none to indicate the activities of Greek farmers 

 who wrote, but there are citations to show that ancient Greek literature 



