THE PEAR. 



853 



Seckel. 



and most exquisitely flavored variety known. In its highly concen- 

 trated, spicy, and honeyed flavor 

 it is not surpassed, nor indeed 

 equalled, by any European vari- 

 ety. When we add to this, that 

 the tree is the healthiest and har- 

 diest of all pear-trees, forming a 

 fine, compact, symmetrical head, 

 and bearing regular and abundant 

 crops in clusters at the ends of the 

 branches, it is easy to see that we 

 consider no garden complete with- 

 out it. Indeed we think it indis- 

 pensable in the smallest garden. 

 The stout, short-jointed, olive- 

 browri colored wood distinguishes 

 this variety, as well as the pecu- 

 liar reddish brown color of the 

 fruit. The soil should receive a 

 top-dressing of manure frequently, 

 when the size of the Pear is an 

 object. The Seckel Pear origi- 

 nated on the farm of Mr. Seckel, 

 about four miles from Philadel- 

 phia.* It was sent to Europe by 



the late Dr. Hosack, in 1819, and the fruit was pronounced by the Lon- 

 don Horticultural Society exceeding in flavor the richest of their autumn 

 Pears. 



Fruit small, regularly formed, obovate. Skin brownish green at 

 first, becoming dull yellowish brown, with a lively russet red cheek. 

 Stalk half to three-fourths of an inch long, slightly curved, and set in a 

 trifling depression. Calyx small, and placed in a basin scarcely at all 

 sunk. Flesh whitish, buttery, very juicy and melting, with a peculiarly 

 rich spicy flavor and aroma. It ripens gradually in the house from the 

 end of August to the last of October. 



* The precise origin of the Seckel Pear is unknown. The first pomologists 

 of Europe have pronounced that it is entirely distinct from any European vari- 

 ety, and its affinity to the Rousselet, a well-known German Pear, leads to the 

 supposition that the seeds of the latter Pear, having been brought here by some 

 of the Germans settling near Philadelphia, by chance produced this superior 

 seedling. However this may be, the following morceau of its history may be 

 relied on as authentic, it having been related by the late venerable Bishop White, 

 whose tenacity of memory is well known. About 80 years ago, when the Bishop 

 was a lad, there was a well-known sportsman and cattle-dealer in Philadelphia, 

 who was familiarly known as " Dutch Jacob. " Every season, early in the autumn, 

 on returning from his shooting excursions, Dutch Jacob regaled his neighbors 

 with pears of an unusually delicious flavor, the secret of whose place of growth, 

 however, he would never satisfy their curiosity by divulging. At length the 

 Holland Land Company, owning a considerable tract south of the city, disposed 

 of it in parcels, and Dutch Jacob then secured the ground on which his favorite 

 pear-tree stood, a fine strip of land near the Delaware. Not long afterwards it 

 became the farm of Mr. Seckel, who introduced this remarkable fruit to public 

 notice, and it received his name. Afterwards the property was added to the 

 vast estate of the late Stephen Girard. The original tree still exists (or did a 

 few years ago), vigorous and fruitful. Specimens of its pears were quite lately 

 exhibited at the annual shows of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. 



