ON THE PEAR 
glossy leaves, some of which for weeks after the 
first frost show varied and brilliant colors almost 
like the autumn foliage of oaks and maples of the 
Northeast. Many of the best of these were dis- 
tributed for planting as ornamental trees. 
Very early in the experiments I found among 
many seedlings of a cross between the Bartlett 
and the hybrid Le Conte one that seemed to have 
exceptional qualities. This proved to be aston- 
ishingly productive of fruit of the largest size and 
best quality, and the tree had extraordinary vigor 
of growth and was apparently immune to the 
blight. 
But only one was selected as showing good 
promise as a fruit bearer. Through further hy- 
bridization and selection, during a period of near- 
ly a quarter of a century, the hybrid progeny of 
this Japanese pear developed a variety that was 
introduced in 1911 as the “Test.” 
Year after year it had produced two or three 
times as much as any other pear that I had ever 
grown. The fruit averages rather larger than that 
of the Bartlett, and it appears about four weeks 
later. The flesh is similar to that of the Le Conte 
but superior to it in quality, although hardly 
comparable to that of the Bartlett except when 
cooked. 
Although I have raised and fruited number- 
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