Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears. 491 



ncrs had two pear trees growing in his garden, and these he 

 had grafted with scions procured from Col. Webb's trees. 

 One of them was the \Yhite Doyenne, (or St. Mi:hael.) and 

 the other the St. Germain. Some time subsequent to the 

 planting of these trees, he had a small pear tree from Col. 

 Webb's garden, which had not been grafted. This was 

 the one now known as the Banners. The three trees were 

 all that were planted in Mr. Hanners's garden, and they were 

 all growmg and bearing fruit, up to 1844, when the place 

 was sold, and the trees cut down. Mr. Hanners's daughter 

 also stated to us, that she well recollects when t'.ie tree 

 first came into bearing; she had been to school, and, when 

 she came home, her parents showed her some of the pears, 

 which had just been gathered, and she then remarked that 

 they looked " more like squashes than pears" from the re- 

 markably obtuse form of the stem end, wnich gives this vari- 

 ety a resemblance to a bell squash. The fruit was very large 

 the first year, when it bore only a small quantity. It con- 

 tinued to produce an abundant crop of fine pears. 



The late Mr. Manning introduced this pear to notice. He 

 first saw it in the market where it was sold as the St. Michael, 

 and generally brought the handsome price of fifty to seventy- 

 five cents per dozen. Tracing the pear to Mr. Hanners's gar- 

 den, he procured a few of the scions, and subsequently ex- 

 hibited the fruit ; since which period, it has been considerably 

 disseminated, and, from its excellence, deserves a place in 

 every good collection. It greatly resembles the Cushing in 

 quality, having the same very melting flesh and yellow skin. 

 Mr. Manning and some amateurs in Salem have doubted 

 whether it should not be considered as a synonyme of the 

 latter ; but its very obtuse form should at once set at rest all 

 such doubts, how much so ever they may otherwise appear 

 similar. If this is not sufficient, the growth of the tree, color 

 of the wood, and form of the leaf, should at once do so. The 

 shoots of the Hanners are upright, and of a dull yellow, while 

 those of the Cushing are partially spreading and of a dull 

 red ; and the leaves of the Cushing are considerably serrated, 

 while those of the Hanners are nearly entire. 



Size, large, about three inches long, and two and a half in 

 diameter: Form, oblong, full at the crown, little contracted in 



