WINTER PEARS. 115 



through the early part of winter in a cold place, and 

 ripened by removal to a warm room. The Beurre 

 j)iel, a larger, coarser, and later fruit than the Vir- 

 galieu, may be thus kept till mid-winter. The 

 Passe Colmar and Easter Beurre, are regarded as 

 among the best winter pears. The former, when 

 well ripened, has been found very excellent. The 

 latter is a longer keeper and more difficult to ripen 

 successfully. The best mode of management is 

 to keep them in a cold room till near the usual 

 period of maturity, and then expose them for a few 

 days to a temperature as high as 70 degrees Fah. 

 In this way they soon attain fine order for eating. 

 Late autumn and winter pears of the finest quality 

 have been rejected as worthless from the simple 

 fact that they were allowed to ripen in the cold. 



The pear is more easily influenced in quality by 

 circumstances than any other fruit ; hence the same 

 variety is sometimes superb and at others tasteless 

 and worthless ; difference of climate, locality, soil, 

 culture, seasons, management in ripening, and 

 other causes, have a great bearing on the result. 

 Hence the care and experience necessary for selec- 

 tion and decision. And hence, also, the importance 

 of selecting, so far as practicable, those varieties 

 least influenced by external causes. 



RAISING THE YOUNG TREES. 



The best pear trees are raised by grafting and 



