616 THE FRUIT MANUAL. 



De Maune. See Colmar. 



Mcdaille. See Napoleon. 



Medaille d'Or. See Frederic de Wurtembery. 



Melon. See Beurre Diel. 



MERESIA NEVILL. Fruit, below medium size, two inchesfand 

 a half long, and two inches wide ; roundish obovate or oval, even and 

 regular in its outline. Skin, entirely covered with thick dark brown 

 russet. Eye, small and open, set in a pretty deep depression. Stalk, 

 nearly an inch long, slender, woody, and inserted in a narow cavity. 

 Flesh, half-melting, crisp, juicy, sweet, with a rich vinous flavour. 



An excellent dessert pear ; ripe in December and January. 



This was a seedling of Mr. John Mannington, of Uckfield, Sussex, the successful 

 raiser of Mannington's Pearmain Apple and many excellent pears. It first fruited 

 in 1872, and, being submitted to me, I named it as a compliment to Miss Nevill, 

 daughter of my friend K. H. Nevill, Esq , of Dangstein, Sussex. 



La Merveille. See Merveille d'Hiver. 



Merveille de Charneu. See Fondante de Charneu. 



MERVEILLE D'HIVER (Petit Oin; Petit Oing ;' La MerveiUe], 

 Fruit, medium sized ; roundish, inclining to roundish turbinate, some- 

 what uneven on the surface. Skin, smooth and unctuous to the feel ; 

 hence the name of Petit Oin ; bright green changing to yellowish 

 green as it ripens, and strewed with small brown dots, and occasionally 

 with a faint tinge of dark red next the sun. Eye, large and open, set 

 in a considerable depression. Stalk, three-quarters of an inch long, 

 somewhat obliquely inserted in a small cavity, which is higher on one 

 side than on the other. Flesh, white, tender, buttery, and melting, 

 and of a rich, sweet, and musky flavour. 



A dessert pear ; ripe during November. The tree is a good but 

 uncertain bearer, vigorous in a rich warm soil, and requires to be grown 

 against a wall to have the fruit in perfection, but does not succeed well 

 on the quince. The fruit becomes russety on a standard tree. 



Merlet makes the Merveille d'Hiver and Petit Oin two different varieties ; but 

 his descriptions are so much alike, there can be no doubt they are the same variety, 

 as it is subject to vary in its characters by soil and situation. 



Merveille de la Nature. See Easter Beurre. 



MESSIRE JEAN (Cliaulis ; John; John Dory; Messire Jean 

 Blanc; Messire Jaune Dore ; Monsieur John). Fruit, medium sized; 

 turbinate, and sometimes slightly obovate. Skin, dark green, becoming 

 yellowish as it ripens, entirely covered with brown russet, particularly 

 on the side next the sun, and this is strewed with large speckles of 

 darker russet. Eye, small and open, with short erect segments, and 

 set in a shallow plaited basin. Stalk, an inch and a half long, inserted 

 in a rather deep round cavity. Flesh, white, crisp, very juicy, and of 

 a rich, sugary flavour, but gritty. 



