98 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Kartlctt. Nos. 1 arul 2 rosemble the Barllett in size and shape ; 

 both are hiriie and handsome, but hardly of first quality. They 

 were ripe about the first of November. Of No. 22 we can speak 

 even more higlily than last j'ear. It was somewhat larger and of 

 better s-hape, and tiie clear yellow color was very beautiful. Tn 

 quality it was pronounced dccidedl}' superior to Beurre Supcrfin, 

 with which it compares in character, and it is regarded by all who 

 have seen it as the highest-bred and most refined of all the many 

 seedlings shovni by Messrs. Clapp. It shows again the same 

 property of keeping sound for a long time that was remarked upon 

 last }ear. It is thought b}' the originators to be a hybrid between 

 Beurre Superfin and Urbaniste. No. 75 resembles the "Winter 

 Nelis very strong!}', and is of equally high quality, but ripens earlier, 

 about the first of November. The committee have awarded to 

 ^lessrs. Clapp the Society's Silver Medal in recognition of the 

 pains they have taken to produce new seedling pears, and the 

 interesting exhibitions they have made of them. Charles Bird's 

 seedling was larger than in previous years, l)ut showed a disposi- 

 tion to rot at the core. Alexander Dickinson's seedling was, per- 

 haps, lather better in quality than heretofore. Francis Dana 

 showed this year and last a seedling pear so strongly resembling 

 Dix, as to be mistaken for it. In llavor, as well as appearance, it 

 is an exact reproduction of the Dix, but Mr. Dana states that it 

 bears j-ounger, and docs not crack, which, if found to be generally 

 the case, will make it a valuable substitute for that fine pear. The 

 Mace pear, again shown by the same gentleman, appears to be 

 allied to the Dana's Ilovcy, having something of the same honied 

 sweetness, as well as some resemblance in external appearance. 

 Specimens of the seedling pears raised by B. Fox, of San Jos6, 

 Cal., were again placed on our tables by Mr. Wilder. Like those 

 shown last year, most of them bote a striking resemblance to well- 

 known kinds, mch as Beurre d'Anjou, Glout Morceau, Soldat 

 Laboureur, Nouveau I'oiteau, Van Mons'Leon le Clerc, Lawrence, 

 and otheis; and the fact that in only a single instance could any 

 resemblance to the Belle Lucrative, from which they are said to have 

 originated, be traced, excites a strong suspicion that there is some 

 mistake in the account of their origin. 



"We have thus noticed all the seedling pears which we deemed 

 worthy of mention, and looking back over the record, and similar 

 ones of previous years, and noting the instances of exact repioduc- 



