THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 167 



Fruit matures in October; small, 2 in. long, 2 in. wide, oblong-acute-pyriform, sym- 

 metrical, with equal sides; stem f in. long, curved; cavity lacking, the flesh folded around 

 the base of the stem, often lipped; calyx partly open; lobes broad, acute; basin shallow, 

 narrow, obtuse, slightly wrinkled, symmetrical; skin thick, tough, smooth; color dull 

 yellowish-green, netted and patched with russet, with a tinge of red on the exposed cheek; 

 dots numerous, small, russet, obscure; flesh strongly granular at the center, tender and 

 melting, very juicy, subacid; quality good. Core large, closed, axile, with meeting core- 

 lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, funnel-shaped; carpels emarginate; seeds large, wide, long, 

 plump, acute. 



FORELLE 



I. Trans. Land. Hort. Soc. 5:408, PL XVII. 1824. a. Pom. Mag. 3:112, PL 1830. 3. Lindley 

 Guide Orch. Card. 399. 1831. 4. Prince Pom. Man. 1:130. 1831. 5. Downing FT. Trees Am. 389, 

 fig. 169. 1845. 6. Mag. Hort. 13:339, fig. 27. 1847. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 765. 1869. 8. Leroy 

 Diet. Pom. 2:183, figs. 1869. p. Mas Pom. Gen. 1:115, fig. 58. 1872. 



Forellenbirne. 10. Christ Handb. 514. 1817. n. Dochnahl Fiihr. Obstkunde a: 12. 1856. la. 

 Lauche Deut. Pom. II : No. 23, PL 23. 1882. 



Florelle. 13. Prince Treat. Hort. 13. 1828. 



Trout Pear. 14. Card. Chron. 804, fig. 1846. 



The pear fancier prizes Forelle for its singularly handsome and dis- 

 tinctive fruits, which are also of very good quality. Forelle pleases the 

 eye as well as any pear for bright colors, and is distinguished among fruits 

 of its kind by its trout-like specklings from which comes the name Forelle, 

 the German name for trout. Looks do not belie taste for the flesh is delicate 

 and buttery, is highly flavored, and satisfies those who regard high quality 

 a prime requisite in a pear. The trees are very satisfactory in warm soils 

 and exposures, but fail in heavy clays and cold climates. The variety is 

 worth growing for its beautiful and distinctive fruits. 



Nothing is very certainly known of the origin of this pear, but it seems 

 highly probable that it had its birth in northern Saxony at the beginning 

 of the eighteenth century. From Germany it was taken to Flanders, and 

 from there introduced into England. In the latter country, it was first 

 fruited by Thomas Andrew Knight, President of the Horticultural Society 

 of London, who, in 1823, sent cions to the Honorable John Lowell, President 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Forelle became quite widely 

 disseminated in the eastern United States during the first half of the 

 eighteenth century, and was considered by many pomologists a pear of 

 merit. At the present time, however, the variety has almost disappeared 

 from cultivation. Its place has been filled by Vermont Beauty, a pear 

 introduced from Vermont more than forty years ago. It is not improbable 

 that these two varieties are identical. Vermont Beauty may be the old 

 German pear renamed. 



