BARTLETT 



BELLE LUCRATIVE 



77 



variety is fruitfulness barring frosts or freezes 

 the trees bear full crops year after year. The 

 trees are vigorous, attain large size, bear young, 

 live long, and are easily managed in the 

 orchard. The pears are large, handsome, of 

 good but not of the best quality, and keep and 

 ship remarkably well. Bartlett is not without 

 serious faults, however: the trees are not 

 above the average in resistance to blight; 

 they are not as hardy as those of some other 

 varieties; and more than those of any other 

 standard variety the blossoms require cross- 

 fertilization. The fruits are satisfactory in all 

 characters excepting quality. They lack the 

 rich, perfumed flavor of Seckel on one hand, 

 or the piquant, vinous taste of Winter Nelis 



70. Bartlett. 



on the other. But they are above the average 

 in quality, and since no other variety is so 

 easily grown, nor so reliable in the markets, 

 Bartlett promises long to hold its supremacy 

 for home and commercial plantations. It is 

 the most desired of all pears by the canning 

 trade. This pear was found as a wilding by a 

 Mr. Stair, a schoolmaster at Aldermaston, 

 Berkshire, England. It was first introduced to 

 this country in 1797 or 1799 under the name of 

 Williams' Bon Chretien, by which name it is 

 known both in England and France. In 1817 

 Enoch Bartlett, Dorchester, Massachusetts, al- 

 lowed the pear to go out under his own name. 

 Henceforth it became known in America ex- 

 clusively as Bartlett. 



Tree medium in size, with age becoming tall and 

 pyriform, upright ; branches stocky, smooth, reddish- 

 brown with few lenticels. Leaves 2% inches long, 

 1% inches wide, ova], leathery ; apex taper-pointed ; 

 margin tipped with small dark red glands, finely serrate ; 

 petiole 1% inches long. Flowers showy, 1% inches 

 across, in dense clusters averaging 7 buds in a cluster. 

 Fruit matures in September ; large, 3 % inches long, 

 2% inches wide, oblong-obtuse-pyriform, tapering slightly 



toward the apex, symmetrical, uniform ; stem 1 % inches 

 long, often curved, thick ; cavity small, usually lipped, 

 with thin, light russet overspreading streaks of russet, 

 acute, shallow ; calyx partly open ; lobes separated at 

 the base, narrow, acute ; basin very shallow, narrow, 

 obtuse, furrowed and wrinkled ; skin thin, tender, smooth, 

 often dull, the surface somewhat uneven ; color clear 

 yellow when fully mature, with a faint blush on the 

 exposed cheek, more or less dotted with russet and 

 often thinly russeted around the basin ; dots many, small, 

 conspicuous, greenish-russet ; flesh fine-grained, although 

 slightly granular at the center, melting, buttery, very 

 juicy, vinous, aromatic ; quality very good ; core large, 

 closed, with clasping core-lines ; calyx-tube long, wide, 

 funnel-shaped ; seeds medium in size and length, wide, 

 plump, acute. 



BELLE LUCRATIVE. Fig. 71. Berga- 

 mote Lucrative. Lucrative. Seigneur d'Es- 

 peren. This pear has been a standard autumn 

 sort for nearly a century, maintaining a place 

 for high quality with the pears of its season 

 second only to Seckel. Flesh and flavor are 



71. Belle Lucrative. 



nearly perfect, but externally much more might 

 be desired. The fruits are not as large as is 

 desirable, and are variable in shape and color. 

 The trees bear enormously and almost annually 

 on either standard or dwarfing stocks; they 

 are vigorous with a distinct upright-spreading 

 habit of growth; hardier than the average 

 variety of this fruit; and are more resistant to 

 blight. The fruits are too small for a com- 

 mercial product, but their delectable flavor 

 and luscious flesh make them as desirable as 

 any other pear for home use ; besides which the 

 trees grow so well, and are so easily managed 

 that the variety becomes one of the very best 

 for the home orchard. Belle Lucrative is of 

 Flemish origin. 



Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, 

 dense-topped, rapid-growing, hardy, productive ; trunk 

 and branches medium in thickness ; branches smooth, 

 grayish-brown mingled with red, covered with scarf-skin, 

 with numerous, elongated lenticels. Leaves 3 inches 

 long, 1 % inches wide, stiff ; apex abruptly pointed ; 

 margin finely serrate, tipped with very small, sharp 

 glands ; petiole 2 inches long. Flowers with an un- 

 pleasant odor, showy, 1% inches across, average 7 buds 

 in a cluster. Fruit ripe in late September and October ; 

 medium in size, 2% inches long, 2% inches wide, 

 turbinate, with sides unequal ; stem 1 % inches long ; 

 cavity very shallow and narrow or lacking, the flesh 

 drawn up about the base of the stem ; calyx open, large ; 

 lobes long, narrow, acuminate ; basin shallow, obtuse, 

 smooth ; skin thin, tender, smooth ; color dull greenish- 

 yellow, thickly sprinkled with small, russet dots, often 



