24 The Stotie Pear. 



Art. I v. Sowe account of a nexD variety of Pear, called 

 the Stone Pear ; irith a description and engraving of the 

 fruit, its origin, history, t^'c. ; in a letter to the President 

 of the Massachusetts Horticnhural Society. By A. H. 

 Ernst, corresponding member, Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Last spring, sir, I did myself the plcasnre of forwarding 

 to you, for the benefit of the society, some plants of the 

 Ohio ever-bearing raspberry, with the general character of 

 which you are already familiar : also some peach trees, of 

 a new seedling freestone, of large size and fine flavor, juicy, 

 and ripening in September, under the name of Gist's large 

 freestone, the name of the gentleman in whose garden the 

 original tree was produced in this city; with some pear 

 trees, of a new seedling, and which 1 consider quite an ac- 

 quisition to our already large and valuable list of varieties. 



How western fruits will sustain their character in your 

 more rigorous latitude, I am unable to form an opinion. In 

 conversation with Mr. R. Manning, of Salem, Mass., on 

 this subject, he appeared to be fully confirmed in the belief 

 that our western fruits so degenerate in the transfer, as to 

 be unworthy of attention ; in which sentiment, (with due 

 deference to his superior experience and judgment,) I do 

 not concur. I think, however, the subject is worthy of a 

 fair trial, if it has not already had one. 



The original tree of the pear above referred to, I believe, 

 was destroyed some years since ; and I had never seen it 

 in bearing until this summer, when one of my young trees 

 produced a single fruit, a drawing of which you will find 

 here annexed Cfig. l,/>.25) : and I regret to say that the fruit 

 was not cut to test its quality until beyond its prime, so 

 that the description, so far as regards its flesh and flavor, 

 is quite imperfect. The value of this pear is, however, ma- 

 terially lessened by its ripening at the same time with the 

 Bartlett pear. 



Description. — The Stone pear, so called in honor of the 

 gentleman in whose garden it originated, is a very fine and 

 beautiful fruit; the size is large, the form resembling that 

 of the orange Bergamot, rounding to the blossom end, which 

 is slightly indented, and gradually diminishing to the stem, 

 which is long, stout, and inserted on one side ; the skin, 

 when ripe, becomes a bright yellow, with a bright red 



