Descriptimis of Six varieties of Pears. 293 



in its best condition, — possessing a remarkably waxen skin, 

 delicately marked with crimson on the sunny side. 



This variety is not to be confounded with the Compte de 

 Lamy — a most excellent pear, and ripening at nearly the 

 same season. When the former fruit came under our notice 

 we supposed there was an error in the name ; both varieties, 

 however, were exhibited together by Col. Wilder last fall, so 

 as to leave no doubt of their distinctness. The Compte de 

 Lamy is of rounder form, with a shorter stem, and does not 

 possess the beauty of the present variety. 



Size, medium, about two and a half inches long, and two 

 and a quarter in diameter : Form, obovate, regular, full around 

 the eye, and tapering to an obtuse point at the stem : Skin, 

 fair, waxen, smooth, pale yellow, thinly washed with red on 

 the sunny side, little russeted at the base of the stem, and 

 covered with reddish russet specks, thickest where exposed : 

 Stem, long, about one and a quarter inches, wrinkled, slightly 

 curved, much enlarged where it joins the branch, and very 

 slightly inserted in a cavity, little swollen on one side ; Eye, 

 large, open, sunk in a round smooth basin ; segments of the 

 calyx, long, reflexed : Flesh, white, coarse, exceedingly melt- 

 ing and juicy : Flavor, rich, sugary, perfumed and very deli- 

 cious : Core, medium size : Seeds, rather large, brown. Ripe 

 in October. 



52. VicoMPTE DE Spoelberch. N. E. Farmer, Vol. X. 

 Despoilberg, of some French collections. 



Among the numerous varieties of pears produced by Dr. 

 Van Mons, perhaps few have received a higher commenda- 

 tion, from his own pen, than the Vicompte de Spoelberch, {fig. 

 17.) It was among the scions of seventy varieties which he 

 first sent to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1831, 

 and which selection he stated " to possess the greatest merit 

 and of recent introduction." None of those scions, however, 

 lived ; and though scions were subsequently forwarded, with 

 numerous other varieties, to Messrs. Manning and Kenrick, 

 we are not aware that this variety ever survived. It ap- 

 pears to be quite unknown to English cultivators, and the 

 name is only found in two or three catalogues which have 

 ever come into our possession. 



