76 



THE DUTCHESS OF ANGOULEME PEAR. 



Duchesse d'Angouleme. Bon Jar dirtier, 1829, p. 328. Hort. 

 Trans, vol. vii. t. 3. Fruit Cat. no. 245. 



This, the very finest of the late autumn Pears, 

 is said to have been found wild in a hedge near 

 Anvers. 



It ripens in the end of November, and is re- 

 markable, not only for its excellence, but also for 

 its irregular, knobby surface, covered with broad 

 patches of brown, by which it is readily known. 



It arrives at a weight quite unusual in Pears 

 that are fit for the dessert. Jersey specimens have 

 been seen weighing twenty-two ounces; and in 

 1827, a fruit was gathered from an east wall, in the 

 Garden of the Horticultural Society, that weighed 

 nineteen ounces. 



The trees bear very early and certainly, if 

 grafted upon the Quince, for which the sort is better 

 adapted than for the Pear stock. It is doubtful 

 whether it will succeed as an open standard ; the 

 best situation is an east wall. 



WOOD yellowish, covered with white spots. 



LEAVES ovate, middle-sized. 



FLOWERS open early ; their petals oval, or 

 somewhat obovate. 



FRUIT roundish -oblong, tapering towards the 

 stalk, with an extremely uneven surface, usually 



