P Y R 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



P Y R 



429 



generally assuming a browner colour than those upon Quince- 

 stocks, which has led some to suppose them to be different 

 fruits, though in reality they are the same. 17. The White 

 and Gray Monsieur John Pear, are undoubtedly the same 

 fruit varied. This Pear, when grafted on a free-stock, and 

 planted on a middling soil, neither too wet nor over dry, is 

 an excellent autumn Pear ; but when it is grafted on a Quince- 

 stock, it is apt to be very stony ; or on a very dry soil, will 

 yield only small and worthless fruit. This, however, when 

 rightly managed, is one of the best Pears we have. It ripens 

 at the end of October, and will continue good near a month, 

 18. The Flowered Muscat Pear, is a very excellent kind, hav- 

 ing a tender and delicately-flavoured flesh. It ripens at the 

 end of October, at the same time with the (19.) Vine Pear, 

 which ought to be gathered before it is ripe, and has a very 

 melting flesh, full of a very clammy juice. 20. The Rousse- 

 line Pear, is very tender and delicate, with an agr&eable per- 

 fumed sweet juice. It ripens at the end of October. 21. The 

 Colmar Pear has a green skin, with a few yellowish spots, 

 but is sometimes a little coloured on the side next the sun. 

 The flesh is very tender, and the juice is greatly sugared. 

 It is in eating at the latter end of December, but will often 

 keep good till the end of January, and is esteemed one of 

 the best fruits of that season. 22. The Winter Thorn Pear, 

 is a large fine fruit, nearly of a pyramidal figure : the skin is 

 smooth, and of a pale green colour, inclining to yellow as 

 it ripens. The flesh is melting and buttery ; the juice is 

 very sweet, and, in a dry season, is highly perfumed ; but 

 when it is planted on a moist soil, or the season proves wet, 

 it is very insipid, so that it ought never to be planted on a 

 strong soil. It ripens at the end of December, and will con- 

 tinue good two months. 23. The St. Germain Pear, is very 

 sweet, when the tree is planted on a warm dry soil ; but when 

 planted on a very moist soil, the juice is apt to be very harsh 

 and austere, which renders it less esteemed by some persons ; 

 though in general it is greatly valued, and is in eating from 

 December till February. 24. The Pound Pear, or, as it is 

 generally called in England, Parkinson's Warden, cr the 

 Black Pear of Worcester, is a very large fruit, often weighing 

 more than a pound. It is an excellent sort for baking and 

 stewing, and is in season from December to March. 25. The 

 Winter Citron Pear, or, as it is sometimes called, t'he Musk 

 Orange Pear, is very like an Orange or Citron in shape and 

 colour. It bakes well, and is in season from December to 

 March. 26. The Winter Russelet: the colour of this is a 

 greenish-yellow inclining to brown ; the stalk is long and 

 slender, and the flesh buttery and melting, generally filled 

 with a very sw.eet juice; but the skin often contains an aus- 

 tere flavour, so that it requires paring to render it agreeable 

 to most palates. It is in season in January and February. 

 27. The Franc Real Pear, or the Golden End of Winter, is 

 almost of a globular figure ; the skin is yellow spotted with 

 red, and the stalk short; the flesh is rather dry and apt to 

 be stony, but it bakes exceedingly well, and continues good 

 from January till March. 28. The Double-flowering Pear, 

 derives its name from the double range of petals or leaves. 

 It is a large short Pear, the stalk is Jong and straight, the 

 skin very smooth and yellowish, next the sun generally of a 

 fine red or purple colour. It is the best Pear known for bak- 

 ing or composts, and is good from February to May. 29. The 

 Union Pear, called also Dr. Uvedale's St. Germain ; it is a 

 very long Pear, of a deep green colour, but the side next the 

 sun sometimes changes to a red as it ripens. It is not fit for 

 eating, but bakes very well ; and being a great bearer, and 

 a very large fruit, deserves a place in every good collection. 

 It is in season from Christmas to April. 30. The Pear d'Auch, 



introduced by the late duke of Northumberland; it much 

 resembles the Colmar, but is fuller towards the stalk. It is 

 in eating from Christmas to April, and is, without exception, 

 the best of all the winter Pears.. 31. The Swan's Egg Pear, 

 is of a middle size, shaped like an egg, of a green colour, 

 thinly covered with brown : the flesh is melting, and full of 

 a pleasant musky juice. It comes into eating in November. 

 It is healthy, and bears well, as a standard, or in any other 

 way. There are innumerable other sorts of Pears, which 

 are still continued in old gardens; but as those above- 

 mentioned are selected from tho best sorts known, it would 

 be needless to enumerate inferior kinds, because every one 

 who intends to plant fruit-trees, would prefer those which 

 are most valued, the expense and trouble of a bad sort being 

 the same as a good one. Propagation and Culture. Pears 

 are propagated by budding or grafting them upon stocks of 

 their own kind, which are commonly called free-stocks ; or 

 upon Quince-stocks, or White Thorn, upon all which they 

 will take; though the last sort of stock is suitable only 

 for moderate growers. Quince-stocks are generally used in 

 the nursery for all sorts of Pears which are designed for 

 dwarfs or walls, in order to check the luxuriancy of their 

 growth, so that they may be kept in compass better than 

 upon free-stocks. But against the general use of these 

 stocks, for all sorts of Pears indifferently, there are very 

 great objections : 1. Because some sorts of Pears will not 

 thrive upon these stocks, but in two or three years decay, or 

 only just remain alive. 2. Most of the soils of hard-breaking 

 Pears are rendered stony and good for little ; so that when- 

 ever any af them are thtis injudiciously raised, tha fruit, 

 allthough the kind be ever so good, is condemned as good 

 for nothing, when tho fault is entirely owing to the stock on 

 which it was grafted. On the contrary, most melting buttery 

 Pears are greatly imp-roved by being upon Quince-stocks, 

 provided they are planted on a strong soil ; but if the giound 

 be very dry and gravellv, no sort of Pear will do well upon 

 Qtiinoe-stocks. For the raising, budding, and grafting of 

 these stocks, see Nursery and Inoculating. The distance at 

 which Pear-trees should be planted, either against walls or 

 espaliers, must not be less than forty feet ; for if they have 

 not room to spread, it will be impossible to keep them in 

 good order, especially free-stocks, which shoot the more they 

 are pruned. The next thing, after being furnished with pro- 

 per trees, is preparing the ground to receive them: in doing 

 of which, there should be gieat regard had to the nature of 

 the soil where the trees are to grow ; for if it be a strong stiff 

 land, and subject to wet in the winter, the borders should be 

 raised as much as possible above the level of the ground ; 

 and if under the good soil there be a sufficient quantity of 

 lime, rubbish, or stones, laid to prevent the roots from run- 

 ning downwards, it will be very beneficial to the trees. The 

 borders should not be less than eight feet broad ; but if twelve 

 feet, all the better. These borders may be planted with 

 such esculent plants as do not grow large, nor meet together 

 on the sui face, and whose roots do not grow deep, as they will 

 no harm to the Pear-trees, which are not so nice in their cul- 

 ture as Peaches and Nectarines ; but Cabbages and Beans 

 are very injurious, and therefore inadmissible. If the soil be 

 shallow, and the bottom gravel or chalk, there must be a 

 sufficient depth of good earth laid upon the borders, so as 

 to make them two feet and a half deep; for if the ground be 

 not of that depth, the trees will not thrive well. If the gar- 

 den is to be new-made from a field, then all the good earth 

 on the surface should be carefully preserved, and if it be 

 taken out where the walks are intended to be made, and laid 

 upon the borders or in the quarters, it will add to the depth 



