THE DOYENNE' D'ETE' PEAR. 



DOYENNE' D'ETE'. Theorie Van Mons, (Mag. of Hort., vol. xiii. p. 66.) 



DOYENNE' DE JUILLET, Thompson, in Gard. Chronicle, 1847. 

 SUMMER DOYENNE', Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. 



THE number of really good early pears is so exceedingly 

 limited, that every addition to the list is viewed with great 

 interest by the zealous cultivator. The early pears gener- 

 ally cultivated, with few exceptions, are small and inferior- 

 flavored, and, indeed, scarcely worth growing, certainly 

 not by amateur cultivators for their own use. It is, there- 

 fore, with no little gratification that we introduce to greater 

 notice the Doyenne d'Ete, a variety of recent introduction 

 to American collections, and, as yet, but little disseminated. 

 In France, it is a tolerably well-known pear, but its cultiva- 

 tion seems to have been confined to the vicinity of Nantes, where it is 

 raised abundantly, and is esteemed as one of the best early pears. It 

 ripens fully as early as the Madeleine; and the fruit, which is equal in 

 quality to that old variety, has the merit of being far more beautiful, 

 having a fair yellow skin, with a brilliant red cheek. All its qualities 

 considered, it must claim a place in every good collection. 



The Doyenne d'Ete was first brought to the notice of American po- 

 mologists by Mr. Kenrick, who published a description of the pear from 

 M. Poiteau's work, entitled Theorie Van Mons, as long ago as 1836. It 

 does not, however, appear to have been introduced until 1843, at which 

 period we received trees from Paris, which grew rapidly, and, in 1845, 

 came into bearing. It is stated, in the Bon Jardinier, that it was first 

 introduced to Paris by M. Noisette, in 1830 ; but, as it is not enume- 

 rated in the latest Catalogue of the London Horticultural Society, (1842,) 

 we apprehend it had not become generally known to cultivators. 



After the experience of three years, we consider the Doyenne d'Ete 

 as deserving a rank among the best early varieties. The tree is a vig- 

 orous and healthy grower, a most abundant as well as an early bearer, 

 and it succeeds finely upon the quince, coming into fruit, on young trees, 

 only two years from the bud. The specimens have also been uniformly 

 fair. Like most summer pears, some care is necessary in gathering the 

 fruit; to have it in the best condition, it should be picked just as it 

 changes from green to yellow ; if gathered too soon, it will not have 

 attained its rich flavor, and, if too late, it will have lost it. But if 



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