248 Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears. 



liams, a nurseryman at Chiswick, near London, whose grounds 

 are now in the possession of Mr. Glendening, and where we 

 saw the old tree in 1844. Yet no cultivator attempted to call 

 it after the individual who raised it. Mr. Williams brought 

 it into notice, and, from this circumstance, it received the 

 name of Wilhams's Bon Chretien. 



It only remains for us to add our description to these rather 

 long preliminary remarks, which have been extended from 

 the exceeding high merit of the variety, a variety which, we 

 repeat, must be called the "king of pears." It is no small 

 credit to our rapid strides in pomology, thus early to be ena- 

 bled to possess a native variety which fully equals, if not 

 surpasses, any thing which the accumulated labors of Euro- 

 pean pomologists for centuries have produced. 



Swan's Orange (Jig. 19), in general appearance, somewhat 

 resembles a large specimen of Williams's Bon Chretien, 

 having the same uneven surface, but, towards the crown, it 

 is much broader, and the stem end is nearly always swollen 

 and raised on one side, so as to throw the stem into an oblique 

 direction. 



The tree, as our correspondent, Mr. Leavenworth, remarks, 

 is a thrifty, hardy, and excellent grower, and bears fine 

 crops, even under the ordinary treatment of orchard cul- 

 ture, in grass land. Messrs. Ellwanger &. Barry inform us 

 it is a most rapid grower. Whether it will succeed upon the 

 quince remains to be ascertained, but we shall try it next 

 autumn. The wood is strong and upright, rather short-joint- 

 ed, with prominent buds, and of a clear olive shade. 



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

 and a half in diameter : Form, oblong obovate, little uneven, 

 and irregular or Bon Chretien shaped, largest in the middle, 

 narrowing towards the crown, and tapering to the stem, near 

 which, on one side, it is suddenly contracted : Skin, very fair, 

 smooth, greenish yellow, but becoming a bright yellow when 

 mature, leaving a few traces of green, russeted .around the 

 eye, faintly tinged with blush on the sunny side, and very 

 regularly covered with small, round, russet specks: Stem, 

 rather short, about half an inch in length, moderately stout, 

 crooked, greyish brown, with white specks, slightly fleshy at 

 the base, curved and obliquely inserted in a very shallow 



