232 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



cultivated, and consequently grown in a great variety 

 of soils and situations, some of which would suit 

 them, and others not ; and that this is the case may 

 be inferred from the fact, that in some places these 

 sorts are to be found healthy enough. There are 

 many theories upon this subject, which form subjects 

 of curious inquiry to the practical horticulturist. 



American aj^ples are brought into England, as 

 well as many French apples. About twenty thousand 

 bushels is the average amount of the importation. 



The Pear — Pyrus communis. 



Amongst the trees which Homer describes as form- 

 ing the orchard of Laertes, the father of Ulysses, we 

 find the pear*. Pliny mentions several sorts of pears 

 which were grown in Italy, and particularly mentions 

 that a fermented liquor was formed of their expressed 

 juice. It is probable that the Romans brought the 

 cultivated pear to England, and that the monks paid 

 great attention to its varieties. There is a tradition 

 that King .John was poisoned in a dish of pears by 

 the monks of Swinsted ; and the tale, whether true, 

 or false, would imply that the truit was such as the 

 churchmen would oifer to the monarch as a luxury. 

 In an old book of household accounts of Henry 

 VIII., there is an item of twopence " to a woman 

 who gaff the Kyng peres ;" and in the time of 

 Gerard we find that great attention was paid to 

 their growth by the nurserymen in the neighbour- 

 hood of London. The old herbalist, after declaring 

 that in his time to write of the sorts of apples and 

 pears, " and those exceeding good," would require 

 " a particular volume," adds — " Master Richard 



* Odyssey, 1. x.xiv. v. 337. 



