THE PEAR 159 



This unique quality of the fruit may even ex- 

 tend through the whole pulp itself, especially 

 with the more primeval forms, giving the pear a 

 texture different from that of any other fruit. 



This unusual habit of depositing grit cells in 

 the fruits, aside from the seed case itself, is no 

 longer of use to the cultivated pear; but the fact 

 that it tends to be retained shows how important 

 a part it once bore in the struggle for existence 

 of the pear's remote ancestors. 



But let us put aside theories as to the remote 

 history of the pear and consider the fruit in its 

 modern relations. 



The significant thing to bear in mind is that 

 in our day the pear is represented by two races, 

 obviously related, yet quite as obviously long 

 separated, one of them finding its home in 

 Europe and (since the Discovery) in America 

 and the other being indigenous to western Asia, 

 the two having thus migrated in opposite direc- 

 tions, circling the earth, and finally meeting on 

 the Pacific Coast of America. 



And the fact that these two races of pears 

 have thus diverged, yet still retain the capacity 

 to hybridize, is an all-important one from the 

 standpoint of the fruit developer. 



This fact is, indeed, the basis of the newest 

 progress in the development of the pear, and it 



