82 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



except this excellent pear, which passes for the best of its 

 season, has been propagated in the province of Le Perche. 



" The kitchen garden at Landres, in the commune of 

 Mauves, about twenty seconds southwest of Paris, and at an 

 elevation of 393 feet above the level of the sea, was filled, 

 when ray father purchased it in 1783, with espalier trees of 

 the Doyenne galeux, trained horizontally. They were all 

 from thirty to fifty years old, and two of them are still alive. 



" The late severe winter, 1854-5, in which the extreme 

 lowest temperature was about 6° below zero (Fahr.) at Lan- 

 dres, whilst at the Paris Observatory it was never lower than 

 11|°, enabled me to determine the period of the introduction 

 of this variety in Le Perche ; and it appears from the oldest 

 stem to have been at least 120 years ago. 



" My own trees of the Doyenne galeux were covered with 

 flowers this spring ; but the late frosts and damp fogs of April 

 and May prevented both of them from bearing fruit. Nature, 

 however, does not readily give in. On the second flow of 

 sap, in July and August, the shoots produced flowers, and six 

 fruits were ripened. These proved to be the true Poire de 

 Cire, or Gros Doyenne Blanc, as regards both skin and flesh. 

 The stalk was short and thick, as in all the Doyenne pears. 

 The shape alone was somewhat changed ; it had assumed 

 the calebasse form of the Bon Chretien, and of a bitter vari- 

 ety of the Chaumontelle. 



" Now, my two pear trees are at least 120 years old ; I may 

 therefore conclude, that in the reign of Louis XV. the Do- 

 yenne galeux had existed in the province of Le Perche, and 

 that in all probability it had been derived from the Doyenne 

 Blanc, an older variety, which, on account of its size and 

 beauty, must have been the first cultivated. This sudden 

 return of a variety to its primitive state, as I have shown, 

 appears to be analogous to that which takes place with regard 

 to some of our animals and birds, which have passed from 

 -the domestic to the wild state." 



Now, we confess we are unable to reconcile all the state- 

 ments of M. de la Malle. First, he speaks of the Doyenne 

 Blanc, " with a soft woolly flesh like that of a turnip " ; sec- 



