666 THE FRUIT MANUAL. 



Nursery was in existence, and was even then " well knowne to most persons ; " he 

 says it " is an excellent good peare, will beare fruit sometimes twice in a yeare, 

 and (as it is said) three times in some places." 



There can be no doubt that the Windsor Pear is of foreign origin, and that it is 

 the Bellissime and Supreme of the early French pomologists, but it must not be 

 confounded with the Bellissime d'Ete of these later writers, and of Duhamel, who 

 has made a sad mess of many synonymes, and on whose authority in these par- 

 ticulars there is no reliance to be placed. It seems at a very early period to have 

 been distributed over Europe. It is mentioned by J. Baptista Porta, in 1592, 

 as being cultivated about Naples, under the name of Pero due volte I'anno ; 

 and even in our own country we find it flourishing earlier than this ; for Sir 

 Hugh Plat, in giving the authority of "Master Hill," who lived about 1563, 

 " Why trees transplanted doe alter," says, " Trees that bears early, or often in the 

 year, as pear trees upon Windsor-Hill, which bear three times in a year ; these 

 though they be removed to as rich, or richer soil, yet they do seldom bear so 

 early, or so often, except the soil be of the same hot nature, and have the like 

 advantages of situation, and other circumstances with those of Windsor. And, 

 therefore, commonly the second fruit of that pear tree being removed, doth seldome 

 ripen in other places." This is the first notice we have of the Windsor Pear in 

 England; and it is, doubtless, from the circumstance of those growing on Windsor 

 Hill that the variety received its name. Early in the season, and before the 

 earliest varieties of our gardens are nearly ripe, there are considerable quantities of 

 the Windsor exposed for sale in the Covent Garden Market, which are imported 

 from Portugal, and which are said to be shipped at Oporto. We never could 

 ascertain the name under which they were imported, but have not the slightest 

 doubt about the identity of the variety. 



Winter Beurre. See Achan. 

 Winter Beurre. See Chaumontel. 



WINTER BON CHRETIEN (D'Angoisse ; Bon Chretien d'Hiver ; 

 Bon Chretien d'Auch; Bon Chretien de Tours; De St. Martin). 

 Fruit, large, and very variable in shape, some irregularly pyriform, 

 and others obovate-turbinate, uneven and bossed in its outline. Skin, 

 dingy yellow, with a tinge of brown next the sun, and strewed with 

 small russety dots. Eye, open, with long segments, and set in a deep 

 basin. Stalk, an inch to an inch and a half long, obliquely inserted 

 in a close cavity. Flesh, white, crisp, juicy, sweet, and perfumed. 



A dessert pear ; ripe from December to March. The tree is tender, 

 and requires to be grown against a wall, when the fruit is excellent 

 and richly flavoured. In France this was for centuries considered the 

 finest of all winter pears ; but of late years, since the introduction of 

 so many superior new varieties, it is only fit to be grown as a standard, 

 and cultivated as a first-rate culinary pear ; for this purpose also it is 

 used in France. A French writer of the last century says, "If you 

 are curious in large fruit, plant the Catillac Pound Pears and Double 

 Fleur ; but if you want quality, no pear surpasses the Martin Sire and 

 Winter Bon Chretien for compotes. The coarse grain of the latter 

 being fined by cooking, its juice becomes a syrup, and contains a per- 

 fume and natural sugar which cannot be communicated artificially." 



In the Horticultural Society's Catalogue the Bon Chretien d'Auch is made 

 synonymous with this variety, and doubtless what was received proved to be so ; 



