1 32 Account of a nexo native variety of Pear^ 



Art. V. Account of a new native variety of the Pear, 

 called the Cross Pear, with a description of the fruit, its 

 origin, 4*c. By the Editor. 



Notwithstanding the list of native American pears is 

 tolerably extensive, and embraces some of the most excellent 

 fruits cultivated in our gardens, yet the production of new 

 varieties, which are really deserving of cultivation, is rare, 

 and the accessions to the list, for the last few years, have been 

 quite limited. Ten or twelve years ago, many of those which 

 are now so highly esteemed, were first publicly brought into 

 notice, and they have continued to afford the highest satis- 

 faction to lovers of good fruit. 



As we have before remarked, nearly or quite all the Amer- 

 ican fruits, particularly pears, which have been brought into 

 cultivation, have been the result of accident. The trees have 

 been found growing in pastures, fields, or neglected gardens, 

 where they have sprung up from the soil, arrived to a bearing 

 state, and continued to produce fruit, in some instances, for 

 years before their merits have been discovered and made 

 known. An instance of this may be noticed in the Gushing, 

 Seckel, and others, now celebrated varieties, which are in- 

 dispensable additions to every good collection of fruits. The 

 same may be remarked of the variety we are about to notice, 

 as will be seen in the course of our observations. These 

 accidental productions, without the aid or assistance of man, 

 show how far his experiments in the growth of new varieties 

 may be successful, when conducted on physiological princi- 

 ples, as practised by Dr. Van Mons and other celebrated 

 German and French pomologists. 



The Cross pear first attracted our notice the past fall, at 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's rooms, where we 

 had an opportunity of tasting the fruit exhibited, which we 

 found to be of excellent quality. A short time subsequent to 

 this, we were kindly presented with two very fine specimens 

 by E. S. Rand, Esq., of Boston, who received them from 

 his father's garden in Newburyport, where the variety is said 

 to have originated. From the specimens presented to us, we 

 made a drawing, and also a description of the variety, in order 

 to enable us to lay before our readers a full account of the 

 pear. Subsequently to receiving the specimens of pears, we 



