THE PEARS OF NEW YORK I97 



mer pears can be found for New York, and for almost every part of the 

 country. 



In the middle of the nineteenth century, Christopher Wiegcl, a 

 German nurseryman of Cleveland, Ohio, planted some seeds which he 

 believed to have been from a Seckel pear. Out of the trees grown from these 

 he selected two for further trial " because of their early coming into bearing, 

 their upright, vigorous habits of growth, profuse bearing, and good quality 

 of fruit." In 1866, Mr. Wiegel named one of these Mary but later changed 

 the name to Margaret. 



Tree medium in size, vigorous, spreading, somewhat drooping, open-topped, pro- 

 ductive; trunk shaggy; branches brown mingled with much red, overspread with thin 

 gray scarf-skin, marked by numerous lenticels; branchlets slender, long, with long inter- 

 nodes, light reddish-brown, streaked with ash-gray scarf-skin, glossy, smooth, glabrous 

 except on the newer growth, with numerous small, roundish, raised, conspicuous lenticels. 



Leaf -buds small, very short, pointed, appressed. Leaves 3 in. long, if in. wide, thin; 

 margin tipped with few pinkish glands, finely serrate; petiole if in. long, green; stipules 

 of medium size. Flower-buds small, short, conical, pointed, free, singly on short spurs; 

 flowers showy, if in. long, large, in dense clusters, 6 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels i£ in. 

 long, thick, pubescent. 



Fruit matures in late August and early September; medium in size, 3 in. long, 25 

 ki. wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform, irregular; stem i\ in. long, thick, curved; cavity 

 acuminate, deep, narrow, russeted, furrowed and compressed, often with a pronounced 

 lip; calyx open, large; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute, reflexed; basin deep, 

 abrupt, furrowed, often compressed; skin thin, tender, smooth; color dull greenish-yellow, 

 often with a deep but dull reddish-brown blush and occasional patches of russet; dots 

 numerous, small, green or russet, obscure; flesh fine under the skin but granular and gritty 

 near the center; tender, buttery, very juicy, faintly vinous, slightly aromatic; quality 

 good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube long, wide, funnel-shaped; 

 seeds large, wide, plump, obtuse or acute. 



MARIE LOUISE 



I. Pont. Mag. 3:122, PI. 1830. 2. Prince Pom. Mag. 1:131. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 179. 1832. 

 4. Downing Ft. Trees Am. 399. 1845. 5- Hovey Fr. Am. 2:37, PI. 1851. 6. Dochnahl Fiihr. Obstkunde 

 2:59. 1856. 7. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 70. 1862. 8. Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:399, fig. 1869. 9. Guide Prat. 

 59, 287. 1876. 10. Lauche DeuU Pom. U: No. 38, PI. 38. 1882. 11. Hogg. Fruit Man. 613. 1884. 

 12. Mathieu Norn. Pom. 251. 1889. 



Marie-Louise Delcourt. 13. Pom. France 1: No. 19, PI. 19. 1863. 14. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. I, 163, 

 fig. 80. 1866-73. 



The fruits of Marie Louise are among the perfections of Nature, and 

 were the tree more certain in bearing and less fastidious as to environment 

 and care, the variety would rank as one of the best of all pears. Pomolo- 



