154 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



The parent tree of Doyenne du Cornice was taken from the first seed 

 bed made in the fruit-garden of the Cornice Horticole, Angers, Department 

 of Maine-et-Loire, France. In November, 1849, it produced its first fruit, 

 which was at once so highly esteemed that it was named Doyenne du 

 Cornice. It was placed on the market with unusual promptitude and rapidly 

 distributed in foreign lands, reaching America about 1850. The variety 

 was recommended for general cultivation by the American Pomological 

 Society in 1862. 



Tree vigorous, characteristically upright, dense, usually productive; branches smooth, 

 dull gray mingled with greenish-brown, marked with large lenticels; branchlets long, 

 brown tinged with red, glabrous, with many small, slightly raised, conspicuous lenticels. 



Leaf -buds large, medium to long, conical, pointed, nearly free; leaf-scars prominent. 

 Leaves 3$ in. long, if in. wide, oval, leathery; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long. 

 Flower-buds short, conical, free; blossoms open late; flowers ij in. across, in dense clusters, 

 about 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels f in. long, slender, pubescent, light green. 



Fruit ripe in late October and November; large, 3 in. long, 2j in. wide, obovate-obtuse- 

 pyriform or roundish, with unequal sides; stem ij in. long, very thick, usually curved; 

 cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted and wrinkled, often with a fleshy ring around the 

 base of the stem; calyx open; lobes separated at the base, long, narrow, acuminate; basin 

 medium to wide, obtuse, often furrowed; skin tough and granular, smooth except for the 

 russet markings, dull; color clear yellow, often with a very faint russet-red blush on the 

 exposed cheek, the surface heavily covered with large patches and nettings of attractive 

 russet; dots many, very small, dark brown, obscure; flesh tinged strongly with yellow, 

 fine-grained near the outside but granular toward the core, melting, tender, buttery, very 

 juicy, sweet and vinous, aromatic; quality very good to best. Core closed, with clasping 

 core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, rather plump, acute, 

 often abortive. 



DUCHESSE D'ANGOULEME 



i. Kenrick Am. Orch. 171. 1832. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 381. 1845. 3. Ann. Pom. Beige 

 1:21, PI. 1853. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1862. 5. Pom. France i: No. 17, PI. 17. 1863. 6. Mas 

 Le Verger 3: Pt. 2, 79, fig. 136. 1866-73. 7- Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:98, figs. 1869. 8. Jour. Hort.N. S. 

 24:26. 1873. 9. Guide Prat. 59, 267. 1876. 10. Hist. Mass. Hart. Soc. 1829-78. 224. 1880. n. Hogg 

 Fruit Man. 569. 1884. 



Duchess of Angouleme. 12. Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 371. 1831. 



Angouleme. 13. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883. 



Herzogin von Angouleme. 14. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 46, PI. 43. 1894. 



The fruits of Duchesse d'Angouleme excite admiration and wonder by 

 their enormous size. They may always be known by their great size, 

 squat pyriform shape, and uneven knobby surfaces. Well grown, the pears 

 have other virtues than size, as the flesh is buttery and melting with a rich 

 and delicious flavor; but poorly grown, and on unfavorable soils, the flesh 

 is granular, coarse-grained, but half-melting and nearly devoid of the rich- 





