PEAR. 113 



for that purpose." In some Pears, Knight observes, " the 

 fruit grows only on the inside of those branches which are 

 exposed to the sun and air; in others it occupies every part 

 of the tree." Withering says, that " the French make perry, 

 or poire, from the fermented juice of the Pear, which is 

 little inferior to wine ; and that even the bad eating kinds, 

 pared and dried in an oven, will keep several years with or 

 without sugar. 



Before I introduce the descriptive list of Pears, it may be 

 necessary to inform my readers that a controversy has lately 

 existed among justly celebrated pomologists and nursery- 

 men, with regard to some of the old varieties of Pears and 

 other fruits ; the consequence of which has been, that several 

 cultivators are for an indiscriminate rejection of all the oldest 

 varieties, while others contend that in some districts the old 

 fruits are as good as they were ever known to be, and con- 

 sequently deserving of cultivation as hei'etofore. It is recor- 

 ded in ' London's Encyclopaedia,' that the Autumn Bcrgamot 

 for instance, has been cultivated and highly esteemed in 

 England since the time of Julius Caesar, nearly nineteen cen- 

 turies. This fact is my apology for retaining such of the old 

 varieties of the different fruits in my descriptive list, as have 

 been most celebrated. The following extracts are from the 

 catalogue of Messrs. Winter & Co., proprietors of the old 

 Linnaean Botanic Garden and Nurseries, Flushing, Long 

 Island : 



" That some of the fine old varieties of the Pear have 

 deteriorated in some parts of the country, is unquestionable; 

 this is ascribed to various causes ; first, that the varieties 

 have run out, as it is termed ; sc.cond, to the uso of diseased 

 stocks, or scions from diseased, or aged, or unthrifty trees, 

 or both ; third, to the deleterious influence of the salt air, 

 near the seaboard ; fourth, to the want of proper attention 

 to soil and culture. We cannot subscribe to the soundness 

 of the reason first assigned ; there are too many instances of 

 varieties of fruit whose origin is so remote that it cannot be 



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