152 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, 



plump, acute. 



DOYENNE BOUSSOCK 



i. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:31, PI. 1851. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 210. 1856. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 

 742, fig. 1869. 



Doyenne Boussock Nouvelle. 4. Kenrick Am. Orch. 143. 1841. 



Beurrede Merode. 5. Ann. Pom. Beige 5:81, PI. 1857. 



Doyenne de Merode. 6. Pom. France 2: No. 86, PI. 86. 1864. 8. Guide Prat. 64, 266. 1876. 7. 

 MusLe Verger 3: Pt. I, 171, fig. 84. 1866-73. 



Doyenne Boussoch. 9. Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:58, fig. 1869. 10. Hogg Fruit Man. 564. 1884. 



Boussock. n. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883. 



Doppelte Philippsbirne. 12. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 204. 1889. 13. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 

 33, PI. 61. 1894. 



This old Belgian pear is a leader in the second rank of commercial pears 

 in this country. If the fruits were better in quality and kept a little longer, 

 the variety would take rank among the best commercial pears, for the 

 fruits are handsome and the trees are nearly flawless. As the color-plate 

 shows, there are few pears more attractive than this one, but the briskly 

 acid flavor is not pleasing to many, and the fruits become soft at the center 

 soon after ripening. The pears are above medium in size and are sometimes 

 large or very large. The seeds are often abortive. The trees are very 

 large and vigorous, as hardy as those of any other pear to cold, less sus- 

 ceptible to blight than most of their orchard associates, and are remarkable 

 for their prominent buds and large, thick, glossy-green leaves, which turn 

 deep red in the autumn. On some soils the trees do not hold their crop 

 well, and it is always best to plant them where there is some protection 

 against heavy winds. The trees are prodigious bearers, and fruit regularly, 

 characters which make the variety desirable for local markets. 



This pear is supposed to have been raised by Van Mons at the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century. It was placed on sale at Brussels about 1819. 

 The variety was first given the name Doyenne de Merode in honor of the 

 Comte de Merode of Waterloo, Belgium. In 1836, however, the name was 

 changed to Doyenne Boussock. The catalog of the Horticultural Society 

 of London shows that it was received in England in 1842. William Kenrick, 

 on his return from Europe in the spring of 1841, brought the variety to 

 America. In 1856 the American Pomological Society added this pear to 

 its fruit-list. 



Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, hardy, productive; trunk thick, 

 shaggy; branches stocky, shaggy, grayish-brown; branchlets long, with long internodes, 

 light brown tinged with red, overspread with ash-gray, smooth, glabrous, with few elongated, 

 raised, inconspicuous lenticels. 



