PEAKS. 529 



BEURRE SPENCE. There is, perhaps, no pear about which there 

 have been so many surmises and which has excited so much curiosity 

 as the Beurre Spence, and, notwithstanding all the efforts that have 

 been made to ascertain what this variety is, nothing definite has 

 yet been obtained respecting its identity. Many varieties are in culti- 

 vation under this name, of which B. Capiaumont, B. Diel, and B. de 

 Mons are the most general. The name of Beurre Spence originated 

 with Dr. Van Mons, who describes it thus : " Fruit, shape and size 

 of the Brown Beurre. Skin, green, handsomely streaked and marked 

 with reddish brown and reddish purple. Flesh, tender, juicy, sugary, 

 and perfumed. It ripens about the last of September." 



BEURRE STERCKMANS (Belle Alliance ; Calebasse Sterckmans; 

 Doyenne Eitorfanan}. Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three- 

 quarters wide, ard two inches and a half high ; turbinate, handsome, 

 even in its outline. Skin, smooth, of a fine bright grass-green colour 

 on the shaded side, and dull red on the side next the sun, marked 

 with traces of russet. Eye, open, with short, erect, rigid segments, 

 set in a wide, shallow basin. Stalk, three-quarters of an inch long, 

 set in a small round cavity. Flesh, white, with a greenish tinge, 

 very melting, buttery, and juicy, rich, sugary, and vinous, with a fine 

 aroma. 



A first-rate dessert pear ; ripe during January and February. The 

 tree is an abundant bearer, succeeds admirably on the quince, and 

 forms a handsome pyramid. 



It was raised at Louvain by M. Sterckmans, and was first brought into notice 

 by Dr. Van Mons. 



BEURRE SUPERFIN. Fruit, above medium size, three inches 

 wide and a little more high; obovate or turbinate, somewhat uneven 

 and bossed on its surface. Skin, thin, considerably covered with 

 patches of cinnamon -coloured russet ; on the shaded side the ground 

 colour is greenish yellow, which becomes lemon-yellow at maturity, 

 and covered with small patches and veins of russet. Eye, very small 

 and closed, with stiff, incurved, tooth-like segments, set in a deep, 

 round, and uneven basin. Stalk, over an inch long, fleshy at the base*, 

 and united to the fruit by fleshy folds. Flesh, yellowish white, fine- 

 grained, buttery, and melting, very juicy, brisk, and sweet, with a 

 delicate and agreeable perfume. 



This is one of the finest pears in cultivation. It ripens in Septem- 

 ber and October, according to the locality ; and further north my friend, 

 the Rev. W. Kingsley, of South Kilvington, near Thirsk, and my 

 brother at Hope Park, Coldstream, have it in perfection at Christmas. 

 Mr. R. D. Blackmore says, "It is one of the best, most beautiful, and 

 fertile of all pears." 

 It was raised at Angers by M. Goubault in 1837, and it first bore fruit in 1844. 



BEURRE THUERLINCKX (Thuerlincks). This a large, coarse 



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