126 FRUIT GARDEN. 



most deserving of cultivation in the Union. Ripening 

 in June : May DuJce, Kniglifs Early Black. In July: 

 Black Tartarian^ Black Eagle^ Graffion, or BlgarreaUy 

 DoiV7ier's Late, EltoUy Dowhton. The Belle 3Iagnifique 

 ■was added to this last at the meeting of the same body 

 in 1849. 



The Pear-Tree {Pyrus communis) is considered by 

 botanists as a native of England. Many cultivated 

 varieties seem to have been introduced by the monks ; 

 remains of perry orchards attached to monasteries of 

 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries being'not uncom- 

 mon even in Scotland, and very ancient trees of the 

 finer dessert pears, such as the Colmar and Longue- 

 ville, occasionally occurring. 



The list of cultivated pears amounts to more than 

 600 names ; but the number of those truly desirable is 

 not large. We shall specify some of what are con- 

 sidered in England the best dessert fruit, following the 

 usual division of Early and Late ; the former class 

 being in season in England in the months of August, 

 September, and October, and the latter in November, 

 December, and January. It is only a few years since 

 pears fit for the dessert inr January were known in 

 Britain ; such as the Glout morceau, the Easter Beurrd 

 and the Winter Beurr^ ; and they deserve the best 

 attention of horticulturists. It is to be premised, how- 

 ever, that even within the limits of Britain climate 

 makes an important difference in the culture and ripen- 

 ing of pears, of which a remarkable and extreme ex- 

 ample may be seen in the Chaumontelle — a fruit which 

 is produced abundantly and ripened on standards in 



