134 



THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



by M. Meuris, head gardener for Dr. Van Mons. Being unnamed and of 

 fine quality, Van Mons dedicated it to his German friend, Diel, one of the 

 most distinguished German pomologists. Van Mons sent cions of the variety 

 to the London Horticultural Society in 1817. In 1823, Thomas Andrew 

 Knight sent cions to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society whence it 

 became disseminated generally throughout the United States. The Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society placed this variety upon its fruit catalog-list in 

 1854. 



Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, slow-growing, hardy, pro- 

 ductive; trunk slender, smooth; branches slender, twisting, reddish-brown mingled with 

 grayish scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets with short internodes, dark reddish-brown, 

 smooth, glabrous, with few small, raised lenticels. 



Leaf-buds obtuse, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves af in. long, if in. wide, oval, 

 thick, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole i in. long. Flower- 

 buds large, long, conical, rather plump, free; flowers open early, nearly if in. across, 

 showy, in dense clusters, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels i{ in. long, pubescent, greenish. 



Fruit ripe in November; large, 3 in. long, af in. wide, uniform in size, obovate-obtuse- 

 pyriform, often irregular and usually with sides unequal ; stem if in. long, thick, curved; 

 cavity obtuse, shallow, very narrow, russeted, furrowed and uneven, often lipped; calyx 

 partly open, large; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed 

 and uneven; skin very thick and granular, somewhat roughened by russet markings and 

 by dots; color lemon-yellow, with a faint pinkish-red blush and markings and flecks of 

 russet; dots many, russet, very conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, firm, becoming tender 

 and melting, quite granular around the core, very juicy, sweet, aromatic and rich ; quality 

 very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; 

 seeds large, wide, long, plump, often abortive, acute. 



BEUKR GEFFARD 



i. Card. Chron. 69. 1848. 2. Mag. Hort. 18:433, fig- 30. 1852. 3. Ann. Pom. Beige 5:69, PI. 1857. 

 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 231. 1858. 5. Pom. France i: No. I, PL i. 1863. 6. Mas Le Verger 2:39, fig. 

 18. 1866-73. 7- Leroy Diet. Pom. 1:369, fig. 1867. 8. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 689. 1869. 9. Hogg 

 Fruit Man. 521. 1884. 10. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 374, fig. 1904. 



Giffard's Butterbirne. n. Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 255. 1881. 12. Lauche Deut. Pom.H: No. 57, PI. 

 57- 1883. 



Giffard. 13. Card. Chron. 415. 1863. 14. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 1883. 



This is one of the few summer pears with a distinctly vinous flavor, 

 which, with the crisp and tender flesh, makes it one of the most refreshing of 

 summer fruits. The pears are larger than those of most other sorts of its 

 season, somewhat like those of Beurre Clairgeau in shape and color, and ripen 

 at a time just before Clapp Favorite -- when good pears should be in 

 demand for home and market. The fruits keep well for summer pears, and 



