MAY. 229 



is but a few years since it was introduced, and it is still con- 

 fined to amateur collections. 



Size, medium, about two and three quarters inches long, 

 and the same in diameter : Form, roundish obovate, broad at 

 the crown, narrowing little towards the stem : Skin, fair, 

 smooth, green and russet, becoming of a rich golden russet 

 when mature, showing in spots the yellow ground : Stein, 

 short, less than half an inch long, stout and obliquely inserted 

 in a very small cavity, on one side of a slight projection : 

 Epe, small, open, and rather deeply sunk in a contracted 

 basin ; segments of the calyx long, narrow, twisted : Flesh, 

 pinkish white, half melting, buttery and juicy : Flavor, rich, 

 vinous, slightly perfumed and excellent : Core, small : Seeds, 

 medium size, short, broad, nearly black. Ripe in November 

 and keeps well. 



191. Pater Noster. 



Among a collection of pears sent to the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, in the autumn of 1S53, by M. Leroy, 

 was one called the Pater Noster, a very large and handsome 

 specimen, and of excellent quality. We had previously had 

 a pear, under this name, from J. C. Lee, Esq., of Salem, 

 which fruited in his collection, but it was so much smaller 

 than that from M. Leroy, that we supposed they could not 

 be identical. Recently young trees have commenced bearing 

 in our collection, and we find they are both the same thing ; 

 the fine specimens of M. Leroy having, undoubtedly, been 

 taken from trees under a higher state of cultivation. 



The variety, (fig. 15,) does not appear to have been de- 

 scribed by any pomological writer. We find it mentioned in 

 Du Briel's Coiirs Elementaire, as one of a number of choice 

 kinds recommended for cultivation in France. Its name 

 also appears in the last edition of the catalogue of the London 

 Horticultural Society, but nothing was known of its merits. 



The Pater Noster is a very large and excellent pear, of 

 somewhat the character of the d'Aremberg, and perhaps too 

 acid for some tastes, but its size as well as good qualities 

 commend it to the attention of cultivators. 



