ABOUT FRUITS, FLOWERS AND FARMING. 323 



ORIGIN OF SOME VARIETIES OF FRUIT. 



THE history of our fine fruits has many curious points of 

 interest to the zealous pomologist. It is made up of 

 skill, felicitous blunders, discoveries, and profitable acci 

 dents. 



The Flemish pears, with which so large a portion of the 

 calendar of new pears is filled, were the products of scienti 

 fic efforts. In like manner, many of the finest fruits ori 

 ginated by Knight, were by a scientific, although a different, 

 process. On the other hand it would be difficult to find 

 fruits superior to those in the making of which only Nature 

 had a hand. 



The Duchesse d Angouleme, a pear without a rival, in its 

 season, was found in 1815, growing wild in a hedge, near 

 Angers, in the department of Maine et Loire, France. 



The Washington, one of our finest native pears, was 

 likewise discovered in a thorn hedge, at Naaman s creek, 

 Delaware, by Gen. Robertson. He was removing a fence 

 on his farm about forty-five years ago ; he found the young 

 tree nearly grown. 



The Lewis is a native of Massachusetts. Mr. Downer, of 

 Dorchester, a critical judge of fruits, was acquainted with 

 the original tree ten years before he thought it worth a 

 place in his garden. He visited it three times, and was 

 each time disinclined to cultivate it ; it was not until he ha* 1 

 seen a tree taken from it, growing in cultivated ground, 

 that he adopted it. It now ranks among the finest native 

 pears. 



Dearborn s Seedling was discovered by General Dearborn 

 in a cluster of syringas and rose bushes, forming a part of a 

 border to an avenue. Pears seem to have great fondness 

 lor hedges, borders, etc. The discoverer attempted to 

 remove the tree, then, apparently, about five years old, to 

 Iris nursery for a stock ; but digging two feet deep, and 

 finding no root but the tap root, he feared that deplanting 



