1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



289 



THE OLD ST. MICHAEL PEAR, OR WHITE DOYENNE. 



There are few pears bearing so many names as 

 this old, •well known and excellent variety. In the 

 region about Boston it is called the St. Michael ; 

 in New York, the Virgalieu ; in Philadelphia, the 

 Butter Pear ; the English give it several names — 

 among them that of Snow Pear and Pine Pear, as 

 well as St. Michael. This confusion in names 

 shows that the pear is extensively cultivated, and 

 ranked among the best. 



In his American Fruit Culturist, Thomas says 

 that it fails in many localities near Boston, but 

 through inland New York and in most of the 

 Western States, it is unsurpassed in its excellent 

 quaUties of hardy growth, fair fruit, delicious flavor, 

 and great productiveness ; many trees jielding ten 

 or fifteen bushels of perfect fruit in a single sea- 

 son. 



It is an old French variety, and was first brought 

 into notice by the Dean of some religious corpora- 

 tion, and as we are not particularly anxious to im- 

 mortalize the musty saints of the cloisters or cathe- 

 drals, perhaps we had better let the old Dean 

 have the credit of so good an act as bringing such 

 a pear into notice, and call it the White (doy-en- 

 nay) Doyenne. 



We have known this pear from our youth, and 

 do not hesitate to say that if it can be ripened with_ 



out cracking, it is one of the best in our extended 

 list. Cole gives the following description : — 



Rather large ; obovate ; clear pale yellow, with 

 smaU dots ; a red cheek full in the sun ; stalk an 

 inch long, stout, in a small cavity ; calyx small, in 

 a shallow, finely plaited basin ; flesh white, fine tex- 

 ture, melting, very buttery, of a rich, high, delicious 

 flavor. Oct. and into Nov. Many regard this 

 pear as a standard of excellence ; many others pre- 

 fer the Seckel. It is perfectly hardy in tree and 

 fruit, and first-rate in quality in the Middle and 

 Western States, in Western New York, and in the 

 region of Baltimore ; but it generally blasts and 

 cracks in New England, on the sea-coast, yet it 

 still flourishes in the interior. Where uncertain, 

 it does better on the quince. 



Girdled Trees. — The Lowell Citizen and 

 JVeti's says that "tin placed about young apple 

 trees will prevent the mice from girdling them. 

 The material used is the tin of refuse cans, and 

 costs one cent for each tree." 



We saw an orchard in April where tin was used, 

 and not a tree was injured — while many trees in 

 the immediate neighborhood were ruined. 



Seeds. — We are under obligations to the Hon. 

 Robert B. Hall, Chauncey L. Knapp, and the Com- 

 missioner of Patents, for various packages of seeds. 



