The Pear. 37 



begin, it would seem, so soon as that of the apple. In 

 constitution the pear is less hardy than the apple; it can- 

 not accommodate itself so readily to varied soils; the 

 uses of the fruit are less multiform, and very few of 

 the sorts allow of being kept through the winter. Hence 

 in early times it was not suited for a staple ; and finally, 

 there is the certificate supplied by the names borne by 

 the tree in the northern languages, which point in every 

 instance to the Latin pints as their common ancestor.* 

 That the ancient Greeks were acquainted with it is shown 

 in the lines above quoted from the Odyssey (p. 24), and 

 in Theocritus, who introduces the pear in that beautiful 

 little elegy, the lament of Thyrsis (i. 134). Italy, in the 

 time of the Caesars, possessed, according to Pliny, thirty- 

 six distinct varieties. The mural paintings uncovered at 

 Pompeii frequently represent both the tree and the fruit. 

 Virgil speaks of the latter in his ninth Eclogue. 



When well developed, a mature pear-tree is one of the 

 most pleasing objects in nature. The general figure is 

 much handsomer than that of the apple; it attains a very 

 markedly superior stature, this reaching to thirty, fifty, 

 even seventy feet ; the diameter of the branchy head is 

 often greater than the height ; Mr. Edwin Lees, in his 

 entertaining volume, u The Forest and Chase of Malvern," 

 tells us that at Borland, in Worcestershire, there are pear- 

 trees "as big as oaks." The leaves resemble those of 

 the apple, but have longer stalks, and are usually quite 



* Pirus, let it be noted, is the proper old Roman spelling of the 

 name. It became " pyrus" only by mediaeval corruption. 



