256 FLORIDA FRUITS CHINESE SAND PEARS. 



nine inches around, and is much flatter and rounder than 

 the Le Conte or Kieffer. Its color is greenish-yellow when 

 ripe, with a red blush on one side ; stem is slender, of me- 

 dium length ; flesh firm, coarse-grained, juicy, with a pe- 

 culiar, pleasant flavor. It ripens well and evenly, and is 

 of excellent quality and a good shipper. Ripens in Sep- 

 tember. 



COCKLIN'S SHA-LEA. 



This pear is the best of two thousand Chinese sand pear 

 seedlings, raised by E. H. Cocklin, of Pennsylvania, and 

 is not a "sport," but undoubtedly an accidental hybrid 

 between the above pear and a Bartlett tree, which grew 

 near that from which the seeds were obtained. 



The seedling commenced to fruit in 1873, when five 

 years old, and has borne full crops every year since, bear- 

 ing in 1877 eight bushels of fine, marketable pears. The 

 fruit is remarkably handsome, smooth, high-colored, and 

 beautiful. The skin is yellow with a bright-red blush on 

 one side ; medium size, measuring ten inches around and 

 twelve inches lengthwise ; stem long, calyx small ; shape, 

 double turbinate; flesh white, crisp, firm, and of good 

 quality. 



This pear, from its handsome shape, fine color, and other 

 good qualities, has already become a prime favorite in the 

 market, selling readily at six dollars per bushel when 

 pears of the older varieties are selling at one third that 

 price. The fruit begins to ripen in October and continues 

 through November, just when pears are scarce and high. 



These three new-comers in the family of Chinese sand 

 pears, Kieffer's Hybrid, Garber's Hybrid, and Cocklin's 

 Sha-Lea, are destined to secure as firm a foothold in our 

 Southern pear orchards as their mother tree, the original 

 China sand Or Le Conte pear has already done. Very few 



