Popular Pears. 83 



still seem to be greatly in favor of such a belief. Perhaps no pear in the 

 country is so widely known, and so popular, as this noble fruit. It was culti- 

 vated extensively by Enoch Bartlett of Roxbury, whose name it bears ; and 

 was widely disseminated by him. Mr. Downing says, " It is an English variety, 

 which originated about 1770 in Berkshire, and was afterwards propagated by 

 a London grower by the name of Williams. It comes from Europe generally 

 marked " Williams." No pear succeeds better in every variety of soil and 

 location, and no variety gives better crops of good fruit ; and, though it 

 may be of foreign origin, it seems perfectly adapted to our climate. Its 

 earliness is also very much in its favor ; for it comes at a season of the year 

 when a delicious pear is very acceptable. The tree is an upright and good 

 grower when young, with yellowish-brown wood, with a rather narrow, 

 medium-sized, glossy, folded leaf The fruit is large, pyramidal, sometimes 

 a little uneven and knobby ; stalk stout, about an inch long, set in a rather 

 shallow, uneven cavity ; open calyx, in a shallow basin, sometimes plaited ; 

 skin yellow, smooth, and thin, often with a beautiful blush on the sunny side, 

 and, in some locations, with considerable russet ; flesh white, fine-grained, 

 melting, with a peculiar perfumed, vinous flavor, not admired by all ; 

 somewhat variable in quality. Time of ripening, ist to 20th of Septem- 

 ber. It is a great bearer, and the tendency of the tree on this account is 

 to premature old age. It does pretty well on quince, but is much better 

 as a standard ; and the fact that it comes into bearing very early renders it 

 less desirable to dwarf it. One of our best fruit-growers gives the average 

 age of the Bartlett-tree, after it comes into bearing, as twenty-five years, — 

 a much shorter period than is generally accorded to pear-trees. 



Seckel. — This is another well-known variety, and one that stands, in 

 point of quality, before any other pear in the world. It is an American 

 variety, the history of which is quite interesting, as given by Downing. It 

 originated near Philadelphia, and seems to have been a chance seedling, 

 as are many of our very best American pears. The tree is a slow grower, 

 with short-jointed, dark-colored wood, and small, roundish leaves. It is 

 quite compact and regular in form, healthy, and long-lived. The fruit is 

 from small to medium size, quite regular in form, nearly obovate ; color 

 dull yellow, with russet, and generally with a bright-red cheek on exposed 

 specimens ; calyx small, nearly closed, in a shallow basin ; stem short, 



