42 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1873. 



REPORT ON PEARS. 



Committee. — Henry L. 'Parker, Chairman ; Henry Phelps, John C 

 ITewton, James Draper, O. B. Hadwen, S. Han-ison Knox, Alfred Davis, 

 of Woi-cester ; Newell Wood, of Millhury ; and John F. Johnson, of 

 Northhorougli. 

 The Committee on Pears respectfully submit the following Report: 

 The entries at the weekly meetings of the Society, and at the Annual 

 Exhibition, were considerably in excess of any previous 3'ear. The past 

 season has been in many respects a remarkable one. Not only was there 

 an abundant fruitage, but nearly every variety possessed both color and 

 flavor to an unusual degree. Pears, also, like the St. Michel, Dix, and 

 Flemish Beauty, which, in former years, have shown a tendency to crack, 

 and which, from this fact as well as from their uncertain fruitage, were 

 beginning to be regarded with disfavor, seemed restored to their former 

 high estate. 



NEW PEARS. 



If the theory, advocated by many eminent horticulturists, be true, that 

 all varieties of fruits are best adapted to, and will flourish best in, those 

 localities where they originate, then it would seem to follow that we must 

 be dependent in a great measure upon our native varieties for our finest 

 Pears. And the Committee would suggest it as a question for considera- 

 tion, whether some encouragement should not be offered by the Society 

 for the production of new Pears, either from seedlings or by the more re- 

 cent method of hybridization. A reference to the Society's list of Pears 

 will satisfy any one of the prominent position our native varieties are be- 

 ginning to occupy. If all the effort made for the introduction of new 

 seedlings had resulted only in the production of the Clapp's Favorite, the 

 time and money expended would have been a good investment; but this 

 is but one out of many, and, since the introduction of this valuable vari- 

 ety, the Messrs. Clapp have produced some seventy or more new seed- 

 lings, out of which we shall get more than one superior Pear. One of 

 these new seedlings in particular, No. 22, has already excited much at- 

 tention. It is said to be an acidulous sprightly Pear, combining the qual- 

 ities of the Beurre Superfin and the Urbaniste, equal or superior to the 

 Durandeau in quality, and the tree a good grower. The Committee on 

 Fruits of the Massachusetts Society, in their Report for 1872, speak of it 

 as " the juiciest pear they had ever cut." 



A number of other gentlemen connected with the Massachusetts Soci- 

 ety, imitating the example of the Messrs. Clapp, have been also experi- 

 menting with seedling Pears, and some of them with good success. 



