474 STURTEVANT S NOTES ON EDIBLE PLANTS 



sorts had been proved in the Horticultiiral Society's ' gardens to be distinct. In 1866, 

 Field ' gives a catalog of 850 varieties, of which 683 are of European origin. The American 

 Pomological Society's Catalog of 1879,' names 115 distinct kinds which are considered 

 desirable for culture. The pear is now fotmd in Europe, Circassia, central Asia, the north 

 of China and Japan, as well as in America but is not grown in southern India, nor in Nor- 

 way.* Pear seeds were mentioned in the Memorandum ' of March 16, 1629, to be sent 

 to the Massachusetts Company; in or about 1640, a tree was imported by Governor 

 Prince and planted at Eastman, Massachusetts, and one about the same time was 

 planted at Yarmouth,' Massachusetts. The Stuyvesant ' pear tree was planted in New 

 Amsterdam in 1647 and is said to have been imported from Holland. In 1648, it is 

 said in A Perfect Description of Virginia that " Mr. Richard Kinsman hath had for 

 this three or four years forty or fifty Butts of Perry made out of his orchard, pure and 

 good." On the banks of the Detroit River pears were planted as early as 1705 by the 

 French settlers.*" 



P. coronaria Linn. American crab apple, garland crab, sweet-scented crab. 



Eastern North America. This is, perhaps, the apple seen by Verazzano " in 1524 

 on the New England coast. The fruit is about an inch in diameter, very acid and uneatable; 

 it is, however, used for preserves and for making cider." 



P. cydonia Linn, quince. 



Mediterranean and Caucasus regions. The quince was held in high repute by the 

 ancients and was dedicated to the Goddess of Love. Theophrastus speaks of a kind of 

 quince as struthion and Dioscorides speaks of the tree as kudonea. Athenaeus says Corinth 

 furnished the Athenians with quinces as delicious to the taste as they were beautiful to the 

 eye. The quince was brought to Italy from Kydron, a city of Crete, according to Pliny. 

 Coltunella" knew it in his time, for he says " quinces not only yield pleasure but health." 

 In 812, Charlemagne " enjoined its cultivation in France. In England, it was known 

 to Chaucer ** in the latter part of the fourteenth century, for he speaks of it under the 

 name of coine. In 1446, baked quinces were served at a banquet in England.'* Quinces 



' Loudon, J. C. Hort. 546. i860. 



* Field, T. W. Pear Cult. 271. 1858. 



* Amer. Pom. Soc. Cat. 1879. 

 ' Treas. Bot. 2:945. 1870. * 



' Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 11. 1880. 



'Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 3. i88o. 



' Ibid. 



Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 20. 1880. 



Per/. Desc. Va. 14. 1649. Force Coll. Tracts 2: No. 8. 1838. 



" Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc. 22. 1880. 



" Tytler Prog. Disc. No. Coasts Amer. 36. 1833. 



"Sargent U. S. Census (i:i2. 1884. 



" Mcintosh, C. Book Card. 2:560. 1855. 



" Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 240. 1879. 



"Pickering, C. Chron. Hist. Pis. 177. 1879. 



" Fluckiger and Hanbury Pharm. 240. 1879. 



