THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 1 89 



Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, very productive; trunk and 

 branches medium in thickness and smoothness; branchlets thick, curved, light brownish- 

 red, tinged with green and overspread with grayish scarf-skin, glabrous, sprinkled with 

 numerous raised, conspicuous lenticels. 



Leaf-buds very small, short, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 25 in. long, i| in. wide, 

 thick; apex taper-pointed; margin glandular, finely serrate; petiole 2j in. long, slender. 

 Flower-buds short, conical, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers showy, i| in. 

 across, 8 or 10 buds in a cluster; pedicels £ in. long. 



Fruit ripens December to January; large, elongated-obovate-pyriform, often with a 

 narrow neck; stem slender, rather short, enlarged at both ends, inserted obliquely; cavity- 

 irregular, often lipped; calyx variable in size, partly open; basin variable in size, abrupt, 

 irregular; skin glossy, thin, with uneven surface; color yellow, mottled and faintly blushed 

 on the exposed cheek with yellowish-bronze; dots inconspicuous, small; flesh white, fine- 

 grained, melting, juicy, sweet, pleasantly aromatic; quality very good. 



LEON LECLERC (VAN MONS) 



1. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 3. 1843. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 419, fig. 192. 1845. 3. Hovey 

 Fr. Am. 1:9, PI. 1851. 4. Ann. Pom. Beige 5:51, PI. 1857. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 70. 1862. 6. 

 Pom. France 1: No. 29, PI. 29. 1863. 7. Jour. Hort. N. S. 10:366. 1866. 8. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 

 127, fig. 62. 1866-73. 9- Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:722, fig. 1869. 10. Jour. Hort. 3rd Ser. 1:573, fig. 103. 

 1880. 11. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 361, fig. 1906. 



Van Mons Butterbirne. 12. Lauche Deul. Pom. II: No. 65, PI. 65. 1883. 13. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 

 292. 1889. 



A century ago this pear was being heralded in Europe as the best of 

 all pears, and shortly afterward was introduced into the United States with 

 highest praise. The variety is still popular in Europe, but its reputation 

 there is not sustained here. The pear deserves a place among major 

 varieties only because it fills a particular niche in the pear season, the crop 

 coming in season between late fall and early winter at a time when there 

 are few other good varieties. Were it not for one serious fault, however, 

 the variety might take high rank in America. The fault is great sus- 

 ceptibility to the scab fungus. After Flemish Beauty, no other variety 

 suffers as much both in fruit and foliage. Well grown in a congenial 

 environment, on standard or quince stock, the pears are often as large as 

 those of Duchesse d'Angouleme, with which they compare rather closely 

 in shape. On well-grown specimens, also, the color is rich and beautiful. 

 The flavor is sprightly and refreshing, which, with good flesh-characters, 

 give the variety high rank for quality. There are no remarkable characters 

 in the trees to recommend them, although they are quite up to the average 

 in all characters either on pear or quince stocks. They are said to prefer 

 a rich, deep soil. The variety is suitable only for collections. 



