Pears exhibited during the year 1852. 101 



its saccharine matter diluted or dissipated, it should lose 

 much of its richness and be more subject to fermentation and 

 decay, seems but reasonable. If this is so, especially in late 

 autumn and winter varieties, where resistance to decay is 

 important, this great size seems too dearly purchased. 



These extra large pears are certainly very attractive in ap- 

 pearance, and for the present, at least, are "the fashion." Of 

 course, cultivators, in their wish to comply with the public 

 taste. Avill endeavor to produce them ; but if beauty, sweet- 

 ness, and richness of flavor are true criteria of excellence, 

 and this very great size is to be obtained but by the sacrifice 

 of some portion of these traits, it seems probable that " the 

 fashion" will not be of very permanent duration. 



With the foregoing observations concerning the season, a 

 brief account of some of its fruits, that, from rarity or other 

 cause, seemed particularly noticeable, will be attempted. As 

 such remarks are intended for novices and the general read- 

 ers of the Magazine rather than experienced cultivators or 

 scientific pomologists, they will be very general in character, 

 the intention being to point out the qualities of the different 

 varieties noticed, and not to enter into scientific descriptions. 

 These observations embody the result of the experience — 

 and that very short and limited — of a single individual, and 

 the opinions expressed must in most cases be received as 

 liable to be hereafter essentially modified, if not wholly 

 changed ; for a reliable judgment of a particular pear can 

 only be formed after the proper manner of cultivating the 

 tree and jipening the fruit is thoroughly understood. These 

 descriptions will, in the main, refer to pears alone, as that 

 fruit is at present an object of more especial interest than any 

 others, and will not be confined to those which are new, but 

 embrace such varieties also as, though not wholly new, have 

 not yet become objects of general cultivation. 



Sold AT Laboreur. — This pear was for a long time an ob- 

 ject of interest with cultivators of this fruit, but all the earlier 

 attempts made to procure it resulted in disappointment — the 

 variety known here as the Beurre d'Aremberg, but that 

 should perhaps be called the Orphelin d'Enghein, the name 



