FRUIT GARDEN. 239 



The PEAR-TREE (Pyrus communis) was not un- 

 known to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and 

 grows spontaneously in the forests of Europe as 

 high as the 51st degree of north latitude. It differs 

 from the apple-tree in its greater tendency to a py- 

 ramidal form, in its being more slow in arriving at 

 a bearing or productive state,* and, lastly, in its 

 living to a much greater age.f 



The hardiness of the tree and the excellence of 

 its fruit have recommended it to general cultiva- 

 tion, as might be inferred from the very great num- 

 ber of its varieties. These, which in the time of 

 Pliny amounted to thirty, have since increased to 

 three hundred ; and, if Van Mons is to be credited, 

 to even double that number. From this long mus- 

 ter-roll of names we shall select a few, in their nat- 

 ural order of ripening, which stand highest in pub- 

 lic estimation for dessert and culinary uses, and 

 which may be made to supply our tables from 

 July to March : The Green Chissel, the Red Musca- 

 dine, the Avorat or Muscat Robine, the Royale d'Ete, 

 the Green Yair, the Beurre Rouge, the Messieur Jean, 

 the Crassan, the Colmar, the Vergoleuse, the Wondei 

 of Winter, the Poire d" 1 Auch, the Brown Beurre, the 

 Muscat VAllemande, the Winter St. Germain, and the 

 Bon Chretien.^ 



As these varieties do not reproduce themselves 

 from the seed; as the plants furnished by layers, 



opinion of the best horticulturists of that country, a more effi 

 cient coveiing for the wounds of trees than the complicated and 

 much-vaunted mixture of Forsyth. 



* Generally from 15 to 18 years. Cours d'Agriculture, art. 

 Poirier. 



t Knight asserts, that the variety called in England the Bar- 

 land has existed from the beginning of the 17th century, and 

 conjectures that the Tanuton Squash (an older variety) was first 

 known in the beginning of the 16th. 



t Du Hamel divides the varieties known in his day into two 

 classes, and considers them all as proceeding from the fecunda- 

 tion of the wild pear by the quince. 



See our note on orchards, p. 000. J. B. 



