232 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



Tree large, vigorous, upright, scraggly, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches 

 stocky, smooth, light-brown overlaid with gray scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets 

 thick, curved, long, with long internodes, brownish-red, streaked with gray scarf-skin, 

 glossy, smooth, glabrous, sprinkled with conspicuous, raised lenticels. 



Leaf -buds large, long, conical, pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with very prominent 

 shoulders. Leaves 3! in. long, if in. wide, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; 

 petiole 2 j in. long. Flower-buds conical, plump, free, singly on spurs variable in length; 

 flowers very late, i£ in. across, in dense clusters, average 5 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. 

 long, thick, thinly pubescent. 



Fruit ripe in December and January; large, 3 in. long, 25 in. wide, oblong-obovate- 

 pyriform; stem 1 in. long, thick, curved; cavity narrow, shallow, smooth, oblique; calyx 

 small, nearly closed; lobes short; basin small, shallow, irregular; skin uneven in surface; 

 color yellow, splashed with russet and often blushed on the exposed cheek with bright red; 

 dots numerous, small, brownish-russet; flesh yellowish-white, fine-grained, tender, juicy, 

 sweet, pleasant-flavored; quality good to very good. Core small, nearly closed, with 

 meeting core-lines; calyx- tube short, wide; seeds large, long, plump, obtuse. 



WINTER NELIS 



I. Pom. Mag. 3:126, PI. 1830. a. Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 409. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 199. 

 1832. 4. Mag. Hort. 10:127. 1844. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 450, fig. 208. 1845. 6. Gard. Chron. 

 20, fig. 1845. 7. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr.Gr. 51. 1848. 8. Hovey Fr. Am. I: 15, PI. 1851. 9. Downing Fr. 

 Trees Am. 884, fig. 1869. 10. Oberdieck Obst-Sorl. 339. 1881. II. Lauche Deut. Pom. U: No. 49, PI. 

 49. 1882. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 667. 1884. 13. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 301. 1889. 14. Deut. Obstsorten 

 5: Pt. 15, PI. 1909. 



La Bonne Malinoise. 15. Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc. 4:276. 1822. 16. iW<2. 5:408. 1824. 



Thouin. 17. DochnaM Fiihr. Obstkunde 2:23. 1856. 



Bonne de Malines. 18. Ann. Pom. Beige 6:77, PI. 1858. 19. Pom. France 2: No. 53, PI. 53. 

 1864. 20. Leroy Diet. Pom. 1:484, figs. 1867. 21. Guide Prat. 6o, 252. 1876. 22. Cat. Cong. Pom. 

 France 202. 1906. 



N&lis d'Hiver. 23. Mas Le Verger 1:29 bis, fig. 21. 1866-73. 



Winter Nelis is the standard winter pear in the United States. Both 

 fruits and trees possess several serious faults, but these are outmatched by- 

 virtues which make the variety preeminent in its season. The fruits are 

 small and are often so poorly colored as to be unattractive, but well grown 

 they are sufficiently large for dessert fruits and are very handsome in a 

 much-russeted coat and a ruddy cheek. Flesh and flavor are the chief 

 assets of the fruits. The flesh is tender, melting, juicy, luscious, with a 

 rich, sweet, aromatic flavor — one of the most delectable of all pears. The 

 fruits keep, ship, and sell well. The season is from Christmas to March, 

 but the pears can be kept until late spring in cold-storage. The trees 

 begin badly, for no variety is more difficult to grow well in the nursery. 

 They thrive only on standard stocks, refusing to do well on the quince 

 unless double worked. In the orchard, the trees are among the unmanage- 



