70 The Howell Pear. 



celebrity, and it was about the time that the Governor's first 

 trees began to bear fruit that Mr. Howell, incited doubtless by 

 his neighbor's example, planted his seed, from which there are 

 now in his garden about twenty seedling pear trees in bearing. 



John English, Esq., the present proprietor of the garden, 

 was informed by Mr. Howell, that the seeds he planted were 

 all from fruit known in this city as the Jonah pear. This is 

 a very hard and tough winter pear, producing enormous crops 

 every year, that seldom becomes mellow and fit for a des- 

 sert fruit, but, when it does, it is very good, being full of rich, 

 sub-acid, slightly astringent juice. The tree which produced 

 these pears stood in Mr. Howell's garden, with a Virgalieu 

 on one side, and a Summer Bon Chretien, or Pound pear, as 

 they were formerly called here, on the other ; and the How- 

 ell pear evidently partakes of some of the characteristics of 

 each of these fruits. 



The tree is healthy and vigorous, and is now about six- 

 teen feet in height, of an upright growth, with diverging and 

 pendulous branches ; young wood pale reddish gray or brown. 



It first fruited about seven years ago, and has borne good 

 crops regularly every year since it began. It ripens from the 

 15th September to the 10th October. The fruit has improved 

 from the first, both in size and quality ; and, in the judgment 

 of our Pomological Society, it is now of the first class, and 

 worthy of cultivation in every place where the soil and cli- 

 mate are congenial. The specimens exhibited in Boston this 

 fall were only a fair average of the fruit produced this year, 

 and you noticed them, I presume, as much above medium 

 size, and very fair. 



As you have seen and tested the quality of the fruit, I shall 

 leave a description of it to you, knowing that you can de- 

 scribe it in accordance with pomological rules much better 

 than myself. 



Several of the pears produced by Mr. Howell are very good, 

 and their quality improves with the age of the trees, but the 

 Howell pear is decidedly the best, and perhaps the only one 

 that, amongst the multitude of good pears now cultivated, 

 will stand forth as of superior excellence. 



One of Mr. Howell's pears has been called, by Mr. Enghsh, 

 the New Haven Beauty. It is certainly the most beautiful 



