1877.] ESSAY ON THE PEAR. 17 



the fruit, and not leaving more than one third upon the tree, we shall get 

 fine large specimens that will ripen well, and prove to be of very good 

 quality. Like all winter pears it wants to be stored in a dark, cold, dry 

 place, till ready for use; with this management the Yicar is a very valu- 

 able variety; with neglect it will be worthless every year. The Beurre 

 Clairgeau is a very profitable market sort, being a good bearer, and a 

 large sized, red cheeked, handsome fruit. Its attractive appearance will 

 sell the fruit, but its quality would never commend it. I did not put this 

 on my list of eight best market sorts, as I consider it an imposition upon 

 the public taste, to palm off upon them such a poor fruit as this, even if 

 it is handsome, and there is money in it. 



The Flemish Beauty was quite popular a few years ago, but of late 

 years the fruit has cracked badly, which makes it unreliable. In point of 

 flavor it is superior, and on this account I would venture a single tree in 

 a collection for one's own use. Beurre Diel, or I^ovember pear, once 

 very popular, has the same habit as the above, but I think not quite as 

 bad. It is a great bearer, good size, keeps, and ripens well, and with a 

 bright golden color. On account of this habit of cracking, I should place 

 the Onondaga in place of the Beurre Diel, as it is very much like it in 

 appearance and ripens nearly at the same time, perhaps a little earlier 

 of the two. 



This list might be extended by adding the St. Ghislain and Washing- 

 ton, fine September pears, and the Josephine de Malines and Mt. 

 Vernon for winter, and so on to the end of the chapter. I will allude to 

 one more and then I am done. The Earle's Bergamot, a seedling origi- 

 nated by the late Hon. John Milton Earle, of this city, is a variety that 

 has impressed itself very favorably upon my taste. It has a peculiar 

 flavor of its own that lovers of choice fruit will enjoy. Our friend Mr. 

 V. P. Townsend, of Quinsigamond, is the only exhibitor of this fruit at 

 our Horticultural Exhibition, to my knowledge, but I hope that in some 

 way it may become more generally disseminated through this section, for 

 m point of quality there are few pears that will equal it. 



In this rambling sort of a manner I have given you my views and ex- 

 perience. The subject is open for your discussion. If, as the result of 

 it, some are induced to thus improve their homes by planting a few trees, 

 let me add get good trees, of good varieties, from some reliable nursery- 

 man; give them good care, and your labors will be crowned with a lib- 

 eral harvest, and your children and your children's children will rise up 

 and call you blessed. 



