436 



P YR 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



P YR 



left would rub and tear off the bark, as also decayed branches, 

 but never shorten any of their roots. If suckers or shoots 

 from their stems should come out, they must be entirely 

 taken off annually ; and when any branches are broken by 

 the wind, they should be cut off, either down to the division 

 of the branch, or close to the stem from whence it was pro- 

 duced; the best time for this work is in November, for it 

 should not be done in frosty weather, nor in the spring, when 

 the sap begins to be in motion. The best method to keep 

 Apples for winter use is, to let them hang upon the trees till 

 there is danger of frost, and to gather them in dry weather, 

 laying them in large heaps to sweat for three or four weeks 

 or a month ; afterwards look them over carefully, taking out 

 all such as have appearance of decay, wiping ail the sound 

 fruit dry, and pack them up in large oil-jars which have 

 been thoroughly scalded and dried, stopping them down 

 close to exclude the external air: this will preserve the fruit 

 plump and sound for use. 



5. Pyrus Dioica ; Dioecious Pear Tree. Leaves oval, ser- 

 rate ; flowers solitary, dioecous ; petals linear, the length of 

 the calix. This is supposed to be a mere variety of the Com- 

 mon Apple-tree. 



6. Pyrus Spectabilis ; Chinese Apple Tree. Leaves oval- 

 oblong, serrate, even ; umbels sessile ; claws of the corolla 

 longer than the calix ; styles woolly at the base. This answers 

 truly to its trivial name ; a more showy tree can hardly be 

 found to decorate the ornamental plantation. It blossoms 

 about the end of April, or beginning of May. The flowers 

 are large, of a pale red when open, and semi-double ; the 

 buds are of a much deeper hue. The fruit is of but little 

 account, and sparingly produced. Though perfectly hardy, 

 it should be placed in a sheltered situation. It is usually 

 increased by grafting it on a Crab-stock. 



7. Pyrus Prunifolia; Siberian Crab Tree. Leaves ovate, 

 acuminate; umbels sessile; peduncles pubescent; styles 

 woolly at the base. The flowers come out in bunches at the 

 side of the branches, on long slender peduncles ; the petals 

 are white, and shaped like those of the Pear-tree : they appear 

 in April, and are succeeded by roundish fruit, about the size 

 of large Duke Cherries, changing to a yellow colour varie- 

 gated with red, of a very austere taste, decaying like the fruit 

 of the Medlar, and then more palatable. It is supposed to 

 be a native of Siberia. 



8. Pyrus Baccata: Small-fruited Crab Tree. Leaves 

 equally serrulate; peduncles clustered; pomes berried; cali- 

 ces deciduous. The fruit, which is of the size of a small 

 cherry, has a reddish pulp and an acid juice, used for mak- 

 ing quas and punch in Siberia, where it naturally grows ; as 

 also about the lake Baikal, and in Dauria. 



9. Pyrus Coronaria; Sweet-scented Crab Tree. Leaves 

 cordate, gash-serrate, angular, smooth; peduncles corymbed. 

 This tree was first observed in Virginia, North America, 

 where it is frequently planted near farms, on account of the 

 fine raspberry-like smell which the flowers afford: they expand 

 in the beginning of May. The fruit is only fit to make vine- 

 gar. It may be increased by grafting or budding on the 

 Common Crab ; but it is somewhat tender whilst young. 



10. Pyrus Angustifolia ; Narrow-leaved Crab Tree. Leaves 

 lanceolate-oblong, shining, tooth-serrate, attenuated at the 

 base, entire ; peduncles corymbed. Fruit very small. It 

 flowers here in May. Native of North America. 



11. Pyrus Japonica; Japan Apple Tree. Leaves wedge- 

 shaped, crenate, smooth ; flowers solitary. This small shrub 

 u a native of Japan. 



12. Pyrus Cydonia; Common Quince Tree. Leaves roundish- 

 elliptic, unite entire, downy beneath; flowers solitary, stalked; 



calix serrated, reflexed. This is a low, crooked, and distorted 

 tree, covered with a brown bark, and much branched. Petals 

 large, flesh-coloured ; fruit large, yellow, very austere and 

 astringent, but with a peculiar and very powerful fragrance, 

 but is rendered mild by cookery, and highly grateful. The 

 variety represented in the accompanying plate is the Pear- 

 shaped Quince. The Apple Quince has more ovate leaves and 

 a rounder fruit; and the Portugal Quince, with obovate leaves 

 and an oblong fruit, is more juicy and less harsh than the 

 others, and therefore most valuable. The expressed juice, 

 repeatedly taken in small quantities, is said to be cooling, re- 

 stringent, and stomachic, useful in nausea, vomitings, nidor- 

 ous eructations, and some alvine fluxes. Formerly this juice 

 was ordered to be made into a syrup ; but the only preparation 

 of the Quince now directed, is a mucilage of the seeds, made 

 by boiling a drachm of them in eight ounces of water till it 

 acquires a proper consistence : this has been recommended in 

 apthous affections, and excoriations of the mouth and fauces. 

 The pulp of the Portugal Quince is the best for making marma- 

 lade. This species, and all Its varieties, may be occasionally 

 propagated either by layers, suckers, or cuttings, which must 

 be planted on a moist soil. Those raised from suckers are 

 seldom so well rooted as those which are obtained from cut- 

 tings or layers, and are subject to produce suckers again in 

 greater plenty, which is not so proper for fruit-bearing trees. 

 The cuttings should be planted very early in the autumn, and 

 in very dry weather must be often watered to assist their 

 rooting. The second year after they should be removed into 

 a nursery, three feet distance row from row, and one foot 

 asunder in the rows; where they must be managed as was 

 directed for Apples. In two or three years' time these trees 

 will be fit to transplant where they are to remain, which 

 should be either by the side of a ditch, river, or in a moist 

 place: where they will produce more and larger fruit than 

 in a dry soil, though those in a dry soil will be better tasted 

 and earlier ripe. These trees require very little pruning: 

 the chief thing to be observed is to keep their stems clear 

 from suckers, and to cut off such branches as cross each 

 other; likewise all upright luxuriant shoots from the middle 

 of the tree should be entirely taken out, that the head may 

 not be too much crowded with wood, which is of ill conse- 

 quence to all sorts of fruit-trees. They may also be propa- 

 gated by budding or grafting upon stocks raised by cuttings ; 

 so that by this method the best sorts may be cultivated in 

 greatfir plenty than in any other way, and the trees will bear 

 fruit much sooner, and be more fruitful, than those which 

 come from suckers or layers. These trees are also in great 

 esteem for stocks, to graft or bud summer and autumn Pears 

 upon. These stocks greatly improve the Pear-trees, espe- 

 cially those designed for walls and espaliers ; for the trees 

 upon these stocks do not shoot so vigorously, and are there- 

 fore sooner disposed to bear fruit: but hard winter fruits do 

 not succeed so well upon these stocks, their fruit being very 

 subject to crack, and turning stony, especially all the break- 

 ing Pears; hence these stocks a*e only proper for the melting 

 Pears, and for a moist soil ; and the best Quince-stocks are 

 those raised from cuttings or layers. As the Pear will take 

 upon the Quince by grafting or budding, and the Quince 

 upon the Pear, we may conclude there is a near alliance 

 between them ; but neither of these will take upon the Apple, 

 nor that upon either of these. 



13. Pyrus Salicifolia; Willow-leaved Crab Tree. Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, hoary, white, tomentose underneath ; (low- 

 ers axillary, solitary, subsessile. This is a low bushy tree, 

 from six to nine feet high, branched very much, and shooting 

 up from the root. Native of Siberia and America. 



