38 OUR COMMON FRUITS. 



season, seems hardly likely to be called on to abdicate 

 her throne in favour of upstart modern rivals. This fruit 

 consists literally of little more than eau sucree enclosed 

 in a rind, the analysis of De Candolle showing that when 

 ripe it contains 83'88 per cent, of water and 11*52 per 

 cent, of sugar. Though we owe both the fruit and its 

 title to France, by some strange contretemps the name is 

 there given to a quite different kind, while our Jargonelle 

 is called by the extraordinary appellation of Grosse Cuisse 

 Madame, or Great Ladies' Thighs. The German name, 

 Frauen Schenkel, has the same meaning. 



The Son Chretien is another ancient variety still as 

 highly in repute as ever, both here and in its native 

 France. It has many sub-varieties, one of the commonest 

 in England being the William's Bon Chretien, often 

 called merely the William Pear. Of the Flemish pears 

 more lately introduced into this country, one of the chief 

 in beauty and ..flavour, scarcely owning a superior, is the 

 Marie Louise, the tree of which is, too, so hardy that it 

 affords an almost certain crop under the most unfavourble 

 circumstances. Other noted Flemish pears are the Heurre 

 Ranee, a misnomer for Ranz, its name being borrowed 

 from the district in Flanders where it first grew ; and the 

 Grlou morceau, so called from a Walloon word equivalent 

 to the French friand, the title meaning therefore delicious 

 morsel or lit. 



Among the Germans the pear is more prized at the 

 dessert than almost any other fruit, but the one which 

 ranks highest there, and which ma/ indeed be called their 

 national fruit, as it originated in Germany, is the pretty 

 Forelle Truite, or Trout Pear, so named from a fancied 

 resemblance between its speckled skin and that of the 

 fish. 



In America many of the pears of Europe are grown, 

 but are rated at a much lower standard than on this con- 

 tinent, the Jargonelle, though very common, being looked 

 on as a poor fruit, and even the Marie- Louise and Son 

 Chretien as but second-rate ; for, as in the case of the 

 apple, the seeds of most European fruits sown in America 

 have in the course of time originated new varieties pe- 



