1875.] REPORT OF SECRETARY. 59 



that ushered in aud attended the early suiiiiner. Be the cause what it 

 may, let us hope that it will not always elude human research, and that 

 the discovery of a sure remedy may be speedily announced and approved. 

 Quite recently a note of alarm has been sounded from the extensive Apple 

 Orchards of western J^ew York. Possibly the Pyrus Communis^- might 

 be sadly relinquished. But can we bring ourselves to spare, upon any 

 terms, that noblest of all fruits, indigenous to the temperate zone, Pyrus 

 malus.'f 



In this connection, while treating of the mortality among old or 

 new varieties, brief reference may be permitted to one species, whose ad- 

 vent was loudly heralded in England, aud which some of your members 

 have endeavored, at no slight pecuniary cost and not with the most flat- 

 tering success, to naturalize here. M. Charles Baltet, writing in the 

 Bulletin cV Arboriculture, states that the habit, the wood, the leaves, and 

 the buds, of the specimens of Brockworth Park he has been supplied with, 

 announce it to be the same as Bonne d'Ezee. And higher authority, 

 there is none. The imposition however, if such, is not without precedent-ff 



In the oldest of our Horticultural Magazines, one in which the vigor 

 of youth appears of late to be renewed, occur the following passages : - 

 " It has been advanced, and not without reason, that the majority of- our 

 premium lists are composed to suit the collections of the wealthy, whilst 

 militating against the poor man's mite." " Our remarks are intended to 

 apply more especially to the wholesale manner of offering premiums for 



*Pear. t Apple. 



[ ft Since tlie above Wiis written, a note has appeared in the London Garden from the famous orchard- 

 ist Mr. J. Scott of Merriott, wherein he says :— 



"As one of the results of this examination, (of hi? apples and pears,) I liave, like others, found that 

 the pear miscalled Brockworth Park, is no other than one of my greatest favorites, viz : Bonne d' Ezee. 

 The Brockworth is from trees bought in Gloucestershire. The other, (Bonne d' Ezee), is from trees ob- 

 tained from France." 



"I do not know.how far a man is justified in sending out trees as new, when he cannot vouch for their 

 being so." * •■■ * * * * * ■'<' 



"Let me also direct the attention of your readers to the respective descriptions of the two Pears, as 

 given by the Pomological Director of the Royal Horticultural Society. Bonne d' Ezee is thu.s described: 

 'Flesh white, coarse-grained, inclining to gritty, half-melting and juicy, with an agreeable perfume ; ' 

 and it is added : "This is .only a second-rate Pear, the texture of the llcsh being coarse.' The same 

 authority describes Brockworth Park thus : — 'Flesh, white, delicate, buttery and melting; very juicy, 

 rich and various : and the Royal Horticultural Society gave it a first class certificate in 1871.' " 



"What reliance, therefore, can be placed upon such descriptions? Bonne d" Ezee is certainly deserv- 

 ing of all that is said of the Brockworth, and more: for it is without doubt one of our best September 

 and October Pears, and attains, under favorable circumstances, a large size.' 



From this it will be seen that, although money has been expended for Brockworth Pai'k, under a delu- 

 sion, it may not be wholly lost. Yet the e.xperience is somewhat costly, and, like those burnt children 

 who dread fire, our more enterprising members will be less eager, in future, to invest five dollars upon a 

 false Pomological pretense. Additions to the list of "September and October Pears" are not so impera- 

 tively needed as to justify great extravagance in their purchase. Upon a pinch we might content our- 

 selves with Clapp's Favorite ; Bartlett ; Louise Bonne de Jersey ; Doyenne du Cornice ; St. Ghislain ; 

 and Beurre Superfin.— e. w. l.] 



