BM 



PEAK 



PEAKL 



an large M they could have attained it limit tian- 

 iiiigration. (<') Other Mocks wlicrcii|>on the pear 

 will grow * '" hawthorn, the Sorhus, the L'yil- 

 "i,i:i jKfxiMini, and several other memliers of the 



, 



pxric nice. Some kind- nf pear will ilu well on 

 some of I h<e. Hut ill spite "f all local and para 

 dovic tloiiri-h, tin- stern fuel remains that tin? 

 lit fnl. comparatively brief, and scarcely 



worth I lir trouble. 

 (2) The shape and manner of growth are also 

 .1.1. In the nortliiTii part* of I ; rent Miiiaiii 

 ami tlie bleaker portion* of tin- south tlu> pear 

 unlnw it be of an early kind will not ripen \\i-ll 



without the aid of gloss ur ''" -I"' 1 ' 1 '' and warmth 

 of a garden-wall. It in not largely giown under 

 Klam an \et, and for many good reasons, though 

 M-IV line f.|Nt-inicn* an- thus obtained. Itut as a 

 wall-tree It U to be f.nnul in alnm-t all fruit 

 gardens, and much of UK- liin-t fruit is thus pro- 

 anced. There are four modes of training now 

 chiefly in vogue viz. the ol<l hori/outal, the fan- 

 sliaped, the rectangular fork (with from two to 

 twiity prongs), and the cordon, diagonal or 

 horizontal, single, <loul>li-, or treble, Ac., and some- 

 times tortured into spirals. But, wherever tin- 

 pear will ri|M*n without the absorbed and reflected 

 heat of a wall, the simplest and cheapest form of 

 growth i* that which our nurserymen call the 

 dwarf pyramidal more correctly termed the conical 

 r, with winie few varieties which spurn that 

 form, the lens compact outline of the bush. Some 

 diligence is needed at least twice a year to keep 

 any of these in discipline. 



(*3) The varieties ..[ |-ar* are almost countless, as 

 are thone of apples, and nine-tenths are unworthy of 

 theeensn*. If tlii* wax so in the time of Virgil, we 

 nni-1 not be sin pi i-.-d at the catalogue now. No 

 year, however barren, lacks new kinds on papei , 

 which are to supersede all previous issue, lint the 

 historical fact survives that pears were as well 

 worth eating in the days of our ancestors as they 

 an- now, and that not more than some half dozen 

 of the hundred* introduced within the last forty 

 years have earned their too ol>M.<juioiis welcome. 

 And of this select hand there are only three that 

 deserve to be a joy for e\er It,,!,,,,,,, ,lu ('/,,,,< 

 ( perhaps the crown and the criterion ) ; /.'. urn 

 , a noble sati-faction ; and Jotruhine de 

 , an exquisite refinement. Also there is a 



grand pear of F.nu-li-h origin. the /'itiiuiston Duchess, 

 not of the lineM i|iialit> . hut good enough to lie 

 allowed to plead its licaiitv. To t hese I he gardener 

 will add, according to liking or locality. the best 

 ..! (he older kind* that have S|<HN| the test of 

 ion-, such a- ././;;/.,.//., ll'illnims' Bon 

 'i, l.uuitf /to/" Louise, Jfnii/fit'x 



Mi,H-irrti, anil Pondaitte tTAvtomne, and some ten 

 or twelve othei*. preferring merit to magnitude, 

 and Ix-arinn in mind the simple truth, though a 

 tiimhlinx l.liH-U to the million, that all fruit i* 

 Ix-tter without wall or glam, when it can be so 

 bion^h: to |-rfeciion. 



iie I nitnl States the favourite variety i- the 

 ', which U e\|M.iti-<| in larp- i|iiantitie. 

 M in a mnaller fruit, Inn of a more deli- 



cate flavour. The Mate, in which the i)ear is 

 chiefly grown are California. Ceoi^ia. and Florida.] 

 BM 1100** fruit Ifam.ml , Th< <>r<-l,,,,,l,,t. IJT John 

 Heott: the lUport of P*ar Conference at Chi.wick: and 

 UK I'omuJoyvat Dictionary c,f Andri Leroy. 



Prar. I'KIC-KI.V. s.-.- I'CK KI v I'KAR. 



PrarU a pe<niliar prinluct of certain marine and 

 fresh-water IIH.HU-. .. .\uit>t ohell-lM-arinn nml 

 ItWCuare provided with a -<Tetiiin with which they 

 litif tlieir "helU. and yive to the otherwiw harsli 

 Knuiular material of which the shell i.* furnml 

 beautifully smooth turface, which preveaU any 



unpleasant friction II|MIII the tender Ixxly of the 

 animal. This secretion is laid in extremely thin 

 semi transparent lilms, which, in cuiiscinicnce of 

 - an arrangement, have generally a DeauUM 

 liiilewcence (q.v.), and foim in some S|M-( i 

 sutlicicnt thickness to lie cut into useful and ..in;, 

 mental articles. Themaieii.il n-.-li in its hardened 

 condition is called n<n n by /iMilo^ists, and I. 

 mother of iK-arl. l-i,les the pearl lining of 

 the Hhclls, detached and general)} spherical or 

 loniided poitionx of the nacre are often found on 

 o|H-iiiiij; the shells, and there is jjreat reason to 

 hiip|>os' that these are the result of accident.,1 

 I'auses. such as the iiitiiisinn of a^rain of sand. 01 tin- 

 frustule of one of those minute t-ilici -mis xe^'ctahles 

 known as diatonm, or a minute parasite, or even one 

 of the ova of the pearl oyster itself, which, h\ irri- 

 tating the tender IKM|V of the animal, obliges it in 

 self-defence to cover the cauw of ollence. which 

 it ha no power to remove. Around ihis foi. 

 Ixxly thin layers of nacre are dr|N>nited one afier 

 another, like the siu-eessi\e layers of an onion, 

 until the object is completely encvste.l, and a 

 pearl is formed. The pearl is formed of coucen 

 trie layers of carbonate of lime of extreme tenuity, 

 hut of the same general character as those compos- 

 inj_ r I he shell. 



The most famous j.earls are those of the East; 



| the aiicieiit~ obtained theirs mainly from iVylmi 



i (Taprohane) and the Persian (ulf, whence many 



of the iM'st pearls still collie. Other pearl fisheries 



are in the Sulu An'hijielugo, oil New Cuinea. olF 



some paits of the Australian coast, and amonpt 



some of the Polynesian islands. In the Persian 



i. nil the most important pearl-yielding mollu~r 



is the Arini/ii ( Meleiujrilin ) fm-ntit. It is speci- 

 ally fished for pearls, and viehlc them in ^rcaiest 

 iiiiiiiher and of the finest Kinds. It has a much 

 smaller shell than the species which has 1.,-i-r. 

 long known as the |>earl -oyster, Avicula (M, / 

 agrina) margaritifcm. This last and another 

 species (A. mncroutera) are also extensively fished 

 for in the gulf; but, though pearls are found in 

 iMith, they are much more valuable for their shells 

 than for the peai Is they sometimes contain. Like 

 the A. mar'/iinti/'iTd, the ,1. iniirrn/iti-rii has also 

 a large shell. All three species ,-u,. chiellv fished 

 about the Island of liahrein on the west side of the 

 gulf. The centre of the trade is the port of 

 Lingah, hut all the )>earls that come hence are called 

 Homliay peails. A steamer with a diver and 

 diving-area! on board was sent out by an KnulUli 

 firm of merchants in 1884 to try to obtain shells 

 and |-arls in the deeper water on tli>-.-aM side of 

 the gulf, hut the experiment did not succeed. 



Of the Ceylon pearl -lisheiy, which, like the 

 Indian ones on the Madia- side of the Si rait of 

 Mamtar, is under piverinnent supervision, and is 

 only allowed at irregular intervals, some account 

 is -.Men at CKM.UN, Vol. 111. p. TN. The method 

 of fishing may be thus described. The season 

 of the fishery, when permitted, hists from four 

 to six weeks. For each diver there i> pro\ ideil 

 a diving stone, weighing alxiut 40 lb., which is 

 fastened to the end of a ro|ie long enough to reach 

 the bottom, and having a loop made for the man's 

 foot. 'I'o each Unit there is usually allotted a 

 crew nl thirteen men and ten divers, five of whom 

 aie descending whilst the others are resting. This 

 work is done very rapidly ; for, notwithstanding 

 the simjes of divers who can remain below for four 

 minutes i see l>ms(; i. the Ix-st ilivcis cannot, as a 

 rule, remain longer than eighty seconds below, and 

 few are aide to exceed sixty. The greatest depth 

 they descend is thirteen fathoms, and the usual 

 depth alioiit nine fathoms. When the diver gives 

 the signal by pulling the rope he is i|iiickly hauled 

 up with his net and its contents. Probably the 



