PEARS USES. 



113 



raised in France and Belgium, and several excellent sorts in America. Some of these 

 have proved superior in hardiness and quality to the older kinds. Many, however, are 

 too tender for cultivation in this country as standards ; hardier, freer cropping, and 

 more generally useful varieties still being required. 



The chief use of the pear is for the dessert, and "there are also varieties which 

 are admirably adapted for baking, and for converting into compotes and marmalades. 

 They are also dried in ovens, and preserved during winter as an article of food on the 

 Continent ; and this use of them is as common in France as the making of apple-pies in 

 this country. From the expressed juice a fermented liquor, known by the name of perry, 

 is made, some of which is not inferior to many foreign wines, when particular attention 

 has been given to the selection of the fruit and its manufacture. The fruits which are 

 employed in the making of perry are austere, hard, and uneatable, yet those which are 

 the least palatable always make the best liquor. The wood of the pear tree is heavy, fine- 

 grained, strong, and compact, with a tinge of red in it. "When green it weighs 75 pounds 

 5 ounces to the cubic foot, and when dry from 49 pounds to 53 pounds. It is much used 

 by turners and pattern-makers, and the blocks with which the patterns on floor-cloths are 

 printed are all made of pear wood. It is readily dyed black, when it so closely resembles 

 ebony as to be scarcely distinguishable from it, and is then used for various articles 

 which are dyed black in imitation of ebony. It makes excellent fuel, burns with a 

 bright flame, and yields an intense heat. The leaves dye yellow, and may be used to 

 give green to blue cloths." (Vegetable Kingdom, p. 307.) 



VARIETIES. 



DESSERT PEARS. 



ALEXANDRE LAMBRE. Fruit medium, roundish obo- 

 vate ; skin smooth, shining, pale yellow, with rus- 

 sety dots and markings; flesh white, juicy, and 

 richly flavoured ; ripe November to January. Tree 

 healthy, and a good bearer, succeeding on the 

 quince. 



ALTHORP CRASANNE. Fruit medium, roundish obo- 

 vate ; skin pale green, slightly russeted, and tinged 

 with brown on the sun side ; flesh white, biittery, 

 juicy, and perfumed ; ripe October to December. 

 Tree hardy, vigorous, and a good bearer ; succeeds 

 as a standard. 



ASTON TOWN. Fruit small to medium, roundish obo- 

 vate ; skin pale green, changing to pale yellow, 

 thickly covered with russety spots ; flesh yellowish 



VOL. III. 



white, tender, buttery, and rich ; ripe end of 

 October and beginning of November. Tree hardy, 

 and an abundant bearer ; succeeds as a standard. 



AUTUMN NELIS. Fruit small to medium, obovato- 

 turbinate ; skin greenish yellow, almost entirely 

 covered with brown russet ; flesh yellowish, tender, 

 melting, buttery, and richly flavoured ; ripe in 

 October, but decays quickly. Tree hardy, and a 

 great bearer. 



BARONNE DE MELLO. Fruit medium-sized, pyriform ; 

 skin covered with dark brown russet on a greenish 

 yellow ground ; flesh yellowish, melting, juicy, 

 vinous, and richly flavoured ; ripe end of October 

 and beginning of November. Tree hardy, produc- 

 tive, and succeeds well on the quince. 



