130 Notes and Recollections of a Tour. 



laid of Portland cement, which is preferable to the cement 

 ordinarily used ; as it was yet early, only a few pears of the 

 earlier kinds had been gathered. 



Finding Mr. Thompson in, we examined with him the 

 collection of plums on the specimen trees ; but many of the 

 varieties had been already gathered. We saw the Nectarine, 

 a single plum or two only remaining, and it is a different 

 plum from what it has been supposed to be with us. Mr. 

 Thompson has made it synonymous with the Prune peche of 

 the French, which has been supposed to be the nectarine on 

 that account. But the nectarine of Mr. Thompson is a blue 

 plum, while the Prune peche of the French is pale rose. 

 Consequently the Society never had the true Prune peche. 

 The Washington is remarkable in the climate of England 

 for attaining so high a color ; those we saw being, as it is 

 figured in the Pomological Magazine^ almost yellow, and 

 beautifully marbled with red on the sunny side ; the size, 

 however, was not near so large as they are generally seen in 

 our climate. The specimen trees, however, were thickly 

 planted together, and had not been encouraged by manure to 

 make a vigorous growth. 



The next object which attracted our attention was a long 

 row of pear trees on quince stocks, trained en quenouille, the 

 mode now so much adopted ; the trees had obtained consid- 

 erable age, and were generally clothed with branches from 

 the ground ; but they were less beautiful in form than we 

 expected to find them. Many of them were full of fruit, and 

 presented a very handsome appearance. Among the varie- 

 ties we noticed the Dunmore, which, besides its fine quali- 

 ties, is a long and handsome pear somewhat resembling the 

 Louise bonne de Jersey; we also saw the Monarch, which is 

 another of Mr. Knight's pears, and one of the best kinds in 

 cultivation ; it is a hardy tree, and a great bearer. 



The greater portion of the pears are cultivated on walls ; and 

 some of the trees were very large specimens, and loaded with 

 fruit. The Beurre Ranee, Glout Morceau, Easter Beurre, 

 &c., bearing very fine specimens; Van Mons Leon le Clerc 

 had been so much cut for scions, that it did not produce any 

 fruit last season. Mr. Thompson stated that it was a pear of 

 great excellence. The Duquesne d'Ete of the Catalogue^ is 



