PEARS. 565 



obovate, or Doyenne-shaped. Skin, lemon -coloured, covered with 

 large rough russety dots. Eye, open, placed in a shallow basin. 

 Stalk, short and stout, inserted in a narrow cavity. Flesh, yellowish 

 white, tender, very melting, and juicy, with a fine brisk vinous juice, 

 and a delicate, agreeable perfume. 



A handsome pear of good quality if eaten before it is too ripe ; it 

 is in use in October. At Teddington, Mr. Blackmore says, " it is fine- 

 looking, very fertile, but not good." On the Hastings Sand formation 

 of the Weald of Sussex, Mr. Luckhurst finds it " a fine pear, sweet, 

 brisk, with a tolerably rich flavour, and an agreeable aroma." 



DOYENNE DU COMICE (Cornice). Fruit, large, three inches 

 wide, and three inches and a half high ; pyramidal or obovate, some- 

 times rather uneven in its outline. Skin, lemon-yellow, with a 

 greenish tinge, considerably covered with speckles and patches of pale 

 brown russet, and particularly so round the eye and the stalk. Eye, 

 small and open, with short, pointed segments, set in a considerable 

 depression. Stalk, half an inch to an inch long, fleshy at the base ; 

 sometimes curved, and inserted in a round narrow cavity ; sometimes 

 very short and stout, and obliquely inserted almost at right angles with 

 the fruit. Flesh, yellowish white, very tender, buttery, and melting, 

 very juicy, rich, sweet, and delicately perfumed with a sort of cin- 

 namon flavour. 



A most delicious pear ; in use in the end of October, and continuing 

 throughout November. M. Andre Leroy recommends that to preserve 

 this as long in use as possible it is necessary to gather it early and 

 dry ; and after placing it in the fruit-room to handle it as little as 

 possible. 



The tree is a healthy grower and a very good bearer. It forms 

 handsome pyramids on the quince. Mr. R. D. Blackmore, writing 

 from Teddington, says, " This is, to my mind, the best of all pears ; 

 very healthy, a certain cropper, of beautiful growth, and surpassing 

 flavour. I have grown it to the weight of 14 oz. on heavily cropped 

 trees. But on a wall it is far inferior." Writing from the Weald of 

 Sussex, Mr. Luckhurst, of Oldlands, says, " It is a most delicious pear, 

 very sweet, rich, melting, and juicy." 



This valuable pear was raised in the Garden of the Cornice Horticole at Angers, 

 and the original tree first fruited in 1849. 



Doyenne Crotte. See Red Doyenne. 



DOYENNE DEFAYS (Defa is). Fruit, about medium size, two 

 inches and a half wide, and two inches and a half high ; roundish 

 obovate, or Doyenne- shaped, bossed at the stalk end, and generally 

 larger and longer on one side of the axis than the other. Skin, yellow, 

 very much covered with cinnamon-coloured russet on the side next the 

 sun, and more thinly on the shaded side. Eye, rather large and wide 

 open, with long and broad segments, which are quite flat and reflexed, 



