DOYENNE BOUSSOCK 



DOYENNE DU COMICE 



85 



dots numerous, small, brownish-russet ; flesh tinged with 

 yellow, granular at the center, tender and melting, juicy, 

 aromatic, with a lively vinous flavor ; quality good ; 

 core large, closed, axile, with clasping core-lines ; calyx- 

 tube short, wide, conical ; seeds large, wide, long, plump, 

 acute. 



DOYENNE BOUSSOCK. Fig. 80. Bous- 

 sock. If the fruits were better in quality and 

 kept longer, this variety would take rank 

 among the best commercial sorts, for the pears 

 are handsome and the trees are nearly flawless. 

 The briskly acid flavor is not pleasing to many, 

 and the fruits become soft at the center soon 



80. Doyenne Boussock. (X%) 



after ripening. The pears are above medium 

 in size and are sometimes large or very large. 

 The seeds are often abortive. The trees are 

 very large and vigorous, as hardy to cold as 

 those of any other pear, little susceptible to 

 blight, and remarkable for their prominent 

 buds and large, thick, glossy green leaves, 

 which turn deep red in the autumn. On some 

 soils the trees do not hold their crop well, and 

 it is always best to plant them where there is 

 protection against heavy winds. The trees are 

 prodigious bearers, and bear regularly charac- 

 ters which make the variety desirable for local 

 markets. This pear is supposed to have been 

 raised by the Belgian, Van Mons, at the be- 

 ginning of the nineteenth century. 



Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, 

 hardy, productive ; trunk thick, shaggy ; branches stocky, 

 shaggy, grayish-brown. Leaves 3% inches long, 1% 

 inches wide, leathery ; apex abruptly pointed ; margin 

 very finely serrate ; petiole 1 ^ inches long, slender. 

 Flowers early, showy, 1% inches across, in dense clusters, 

 average 8 buds in a cluster. Fruit matures in early 

 September ; large, 3 inches long, 2 % inches wide, uni- 

 form, obtuse-obovate-pyriform, symmetrical ; stem 1 inch 

 long, very thick ; cavity obtuse, shallow, broad, often 

 russeted, furrowed, lipped ; calyx large, open ; lobes 

 separated at the base, broad, acute ; basin shallow, wide, 

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

 smooth except for the russet nettings ; color pale yellow, 

 occasionally with a mottled pinkish-red blush, more or 

 less netted with russet ; dots numerous, small, russet, 

 conspicuous ; flesh white, tender and melting, buttery, 

 very juicy, briskly acid ; quality good ; core large, 

 closed, axile, with meeting core-lines ; calyx-tube very 

 short, wide, broadly conical ; seeds black, narrow, long, 

 flattened, often abortive. 



DOYENNE DU COMICE. Fig. 81. 



Cornice. This pear has been esteemed long 

 and justly for the beauty and high quality 

 of its fruits, and, if its tree-characters were 

 better, the variety would take high place in 

 commercial orcharding as well as for the home 

 orchard to which it is now almost wholly con- 

 fined. The fruits are very large, smooth, ex- 

 cept for russet markings, clear handsome yel- 

 low, sometimes brightened by a delicate blush, 

 with yellow, fine-grained flesh, which is tender, 

 melting, very juicy, sweet, piquant, perfumed. 



81. Doyenne du Cornice. 



The quality is so good that the fruits of this 

 variety are called by many the best of all 

 pears. The list of faults for the trees is as 

 long as the list of merits for the fruits. The 

 trees make a poor growth in the nursery; 

 must be humored in soil, climate, and care; 

 they are subject to blight; while usually pro- 

 ductive, they are not always so; lastly, they 

 are a little below the average in hardihood to 

 cold. The variety thrives on the Pacific slope 

 where it is a valuable commercial pear. The 

 parent tree of Doyenne du Cornice was taken 

 from the first seed-bed made in the fruit-gar- 

 den of the Cornice Horticole, Angers, France. 



Tree vigorous, characteristically upright, dense, usually 

 productive ; branches smooth, marked with large lenticels. 

 Leaves 3 *4 inches long, 1 % inches wide, oval, leathery ; 

 margin finely serrate ; petiole 2 inches long. Blossoms 

 open late ; flowers 1 % inches across, in dense clusters, 

 about 8 buds in a cluster. Fruit ripe in late October 

 and November; large, 3 inches long, 2% inches wide, 

 obovate-obtuse-pyrif orm, with unequal sides ; stem 1 % 

 inches long, very thick, curved ; cavity obtuse, shallow, 

 narrow, russeted and wrinkled, often with a fleshy ring 

 around the base of the stem ; calyx open ; lobes separated 

 at the base, long, narrow, acuminate ; basin wide, obtuse, 

 furrowed ; skin tough and granular, smooth except for 

 the russet markings, dull ; color clear yellow, often with 

 a faint russet-red blush on the exposed cheek, the surface 

 heavily covered with large patches and nettings of 

 russet ; dots many, small, dark brown ; flesh yellow, 

 fine-grained near the outside but granular toward the 

 core, melting, tender, buttery, very juicy, sweet and 

 vinous, aromatic ; quality very good to best ; core closed, 

 with clasping core-lines ; calyx-tube short, wide, conical ; 

 seeds large, wide, long, rather plump, acute, often 

 abortive. 



