bossed, distinctly five sided, resembling a pear-shaped 

 quince. Skin, smooth with small dark dots. Colour, 

 grass green hardly turning yellow at all. Flesh, very 

 tender, melting pale yellow, not gritty, sweet and 

 deliciously flavoured. Eye, open, segments upright and 

 separate in a very shallow ribbed basin or often on surface 

 of fruit. Stem, long, continued, fleshy at base. Growth, 

 vigorous ; fertility, good. Leaf, small, round oval, 

 very faintly serrate or entire. Origin, raised by M. Six, 

 a nurseryman, at Courtrai, and first described by Bivort 

 in 1845. A very good fruit which deserves to be better 

 known. It crops regularly with me and is of very good 

 quality. 



Beurre' Spence : see Flemish Beauty. 



BEURRE STERCKMANS. Her. Pom. II., 62. G. 



Sterckmans' Butterbirne. Dessert, November to 

 January, medium, flattened conical. Skin, rough. 

 Colour, pale green to yellow with a red flush. Flesh, 

 yellowish white, nearly transparent when ripe, very 

 juicy, sweet and highly perfumed. Eye, closed or 

 nearly so . Stem, rather long, woody, generally obliquely 

 inserted in a small ribbed cavity. Growth, upright, 

 rather spreading, fertility good. Leaf, long oval, nearly 

 flat, faintly serrate. Origin, raised by M. Sterckmans 

 at Louvain, and introduced to notice by Van Mons. 



BEURRE SUPERFIN. Her. Pom. II., 22. Dessert, 

 October, medium, round conical, tapering to stem, a 

 little uneven on surface. Skin, a little rough. Colour, 

 yellow with many patches of fine russet. Flesh, pale 

 yellow, very melting, sweet and deliciously perfumed. 

 Eye, small, closed, or a little open, in a deep round basin. 

 Stem, short, very stout and fleshy, always with some 

 fleshy wrinkles at base. Growth, moderate ; fertility, 

 moderate to good. Leaf, oval, pale green, held nearly 

 flat, a little twisted, irregularly crenate. Origin, raised 

 by M. Goubalt at Mille Pieds, near Angers, France. 

 First fruited in 1844. One of the best half-dozen pears, 

 by some preferred to Doyenne du Cornice. Does well 



159 



