PEARS. 645 



hollow and very much decayed ; the bark, half-way round, to the height of six feet, 

 is entirely gone ; and so far has the progress of decay advanced, that it is feared 

 in a few more years the tree will have ceased to exist. There are, however, young 

 suckers growing from the root, by which the original stock will be preserved ; but 

 it is to be regretted that some means were not taken to preserve the original tree, 

 as by a very simple process of plastering up the decayed portion the progress of 

 decay might be arrested. The property on which the tree stands belonged in 1817, 

 according to Coxe, to Mr. Deckle (not Seckel) of Philadelphia, and hence the 

 origin of the name. Downing says, " The precise origin of the Seckel Pear is 

 unknown. The following morqeau of its history may be relied on as authentic, it 

 having been related by the late venerable Bishop White, whose tenacity of memory 

 is well known. About 1765, when the Bishop was a lad, there was a well-known 

 sportsman and cattle-dealer in Philadelphia, who was familiarly known as 'Dutch 

 Jacob.' Every season, early in the autumn, on returning from his shooting 

 excursion, Dutch Jacob regaled his neighbours with pears of an unusually 

 delicious flavour, the secret of whose place of growth, however, he would never 

 satisfy their curiosity by divulging. At length, the Holland Land Company, 

 owning a considerable tract south of the city, disposed of it in parcels, and Dutch 

 Jacob then secured the ground on which his favourite pear-tree stood a fine 

 strip of land near the Delaware. Not Jong afterwards it became the farm of 

 Mr. Seckle, who introduced this remarkable fruit to public notice, and it received 

 his name." 



I have adopted the orthography of the name as given by Coxe, in preference 

 to that of the Horticultural Society's Catalogue, which Downing follows, because 

 Coxe resided at Philadelphia, and must have known Mr. Seckle ; and as the 

 only reason assigned by Mr. Thompson for altering it is, that it is supposed 

 that Mr. Seckle was of German descent, and there is no name known among 

 the Germans spelt Seckfe. In my opinion, this is not a sufficient plea for the 

 alteration. 



Seigneur. See Fondante d'Automne. 



Seigneur. See White Doyenne. 



Seigneur d'Esperen. See Fondante d'Automne. 



Seigneur d'Hiver. See Easter Beurre. 



Sept en Gueule. See Petit Muscat. 



SERRURIER (Serrurier d'Automne ; Neuve Maison). Fruit, large, 

 three inches and a quarter long, and two inches and a half wide ; 

 pyramidal, even and regularly formed. Skin, smooth, of an uniform 

 yellow colour, thickly strewed with large russet dots, and a few patches 

 of thin russet. Eye, open, set in a narrow and round basin. Stalk, 

 an inch or more in length, very stout, inserted in a narrow depression. 

 Flesh, coarse-grained, melting, with a thin, somewhat vinous juice, but 

 without much flavour. 



A second-rate pear ; ripe in October and November. 



Raised by Van Mons about 1825, and named in compliment to his friend J. F. 

 Serrurier, a member of the Institute of Holland, a great pomologist and author of 

 the ** Fruitkundig Woordenboek," published in 1806. 



Serrurier d'Automne. See Serrurier. 



SEUTIN. Fruit, medium sized; oval. Skin, yellowish, covered 



