458 Descriptions of Select Varieties of Pears. 



most popular pear in cultivation, unless we except the Bart- 

 lett, whose large size and showy exterior give it a claim over 

 its smaller neighbor. Its popularity will never wane, for it 

 must always be one in the smallest collections of pears. 



The history of the Seckel is, that the original tree was 

 found growing on the estate of Mr. Seckel, near Philadelphia, 

 after whom it was named. It is believed to have sprung from 

 a seed of the Rousselet de Rheims. Dr. Hossack first sent 

 trees of it to the London Hort. Soc. in 1819, with a descrip- 

 tion and drawing of the fruit, which was published in their 

 Transactions. It attracted great attention, and its peculiar 

 excellence, quite unlike any other pear, at once secured for it 

 a favorable reception. It is one among the very few of our 

 fine American sorts which have yet received the least atten- 

 tion from English pomologists, who seem to prefer the Aston 

 Town, Crassane, Easter Bergamot, and such trash, to the An- 

 drews, Dix, Heathcot, &c. The prejudices of our transatlan- 

 tic friends are so great that they can scarcely be persuaded to 

 try an American fruit. Even Mr. Rivers plants his 500 Ca- 

 piaumonts to supply the London market ; and in a list of the 

 best pears recommended by Mr. Thompson for an amateur 

 collection, as late as 1844, the only American variety Avas the 

 Seckel ! 



The Seckel is a vigorous though slow growing tree, scarcely 

 ever attaining a greater height than twenty feet : its habit is 

 upright and very compact, making a broadly pyramidal head. 

 It is also exceedingly tardy in coming into bearing, and from 

 its great fruitfulness needs much thinning to obtain large and 

 handsome specimens. It does not grow well on tlie quince. 



Size, small, about two and a half inches long, and two and 

 a quarter in diameter : Form, roundish obovate, largest in the 

 middle, narrowing each way, with a rather small crown, and 

 somewhat obtuse at the stem : Skin, nearly smooth, of a clear 

 golden russet when mature, with a ruddy cheek on the sunny 

 side, and rather thickly dotted with small grayish specks : 

 Stem, short, about half an inch long, moderately stout, and 

 inserted in a very small contracted cavity highest on one side : 

 Eye, small, partially closed, and set nearly even with the sur- 



