444 Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears. 



Size, large, about four inches long and three and a half 

 inches in diameter : Form^ oblong, shghtly flattened, largest 

 in the middle, narrowing a httle to the eye, and tapering to the 

 stem, where it ends obtusely : Skin, fair, smooth, pale green, 

 becoming yellowish when mature, somewhat russeted around 

 the crown and stem, and regularly covered with brownish rus- 

 set specks, thickest on the sunny side: Stem^ medium length, 

 about an inch long, rather slender, smooth, little swollen at 

 the base, and obliquely inserted in a shallow cavity, formed 

 by a few uneven projections of the fruit : Eye, medium size, 

 closed, and sunk in a narrow, uneven basin; segments of the 

 calyx, long and pointed : Flesh, white, coarse, tender and 

 juicy, little gritty at the core : Flavor, sweet and pleasant, 

 with a slight musky perfume : Core, large : Seeds, medium 

 size, long, pointed, light brown. Ripe in October and No- 

 vember. 



117. Vallee' Franche. Hort. Soc. Catalogue, 3d Ed., 1842. 



De Valle6, 



Bonne de Kienzheim, ^Hort. Soc. Cat., 3d Ed., 1842. 



De Kienzheim, 



As late as 1842, the Vallee Franche {fig. 38) was classed 

 among the first rate pears in the Catalogue of the Hort. Soc. ; 

 but, among the many recent accessions to American collec- 

 tions, it cannot be estimated above a second-rate fruit. It 

 comes at a season when we have a good supply of large, 

 handsome, and excellent pears, and as it does not keep long, 

 its place can be supplied with better kinds. It is, however, 

 a most abundant bearer, and in large collections it may have 

 a place. It is one of the sorts which grow freely upon the 

 quince, so much so that we have made use of it as a medium 

 for double-worked trees. 



Size, medium, about two and a half inches long, and two 

 and a half in diameter : Form, obovate, broadest in the mid- 

 dle, and tapering to each end : Skin, fair, smooth, pale green, 

 becoming yellowish when mature, russeted at the base 

 of the stem, and regularly, but not thickly, covered with 

 russet specks : Stem, long, about one and a half inches in 

 length, moderately stout, slightly fleshy at the base, curved, 

 and obliquely inserted in a very shallow cavity : Eye, large. 



