THE PEAR. 407 



and modern cultivators. Indeed, we believe the Pear of mo- 

 dern times, thanks to the science and skill of horticulturists, is 

 * quite a different morsel for the palate, from the pear of two or 

 three centuries ago. In its wild state it is one of the most aus- 

 tere of all fruits, and a choke pear of our fields, really a great 

 improvement on the wild type, seizes one's throat Avith such an 

 unmerciful gTipe, as to leave behind it no soothing remem- 

 brances of nectar and ambrosia. 



So long ago as the earliest time of the Romans, the pear was 

 considerably cultivated. It was common in Syria, Egypt, and 

 Greece, and from the latter country, was transplanted into Italy. 

 " Theophrastus speaks of the productiveness of old pear trees, 

 and Virgil mentions some pears w^hich he received from Cato. 

 Pliny in his 15th book describes the varieties in cultivation in 

 his time, as exceedingly numerous ; and mentions a number 

 which were named after the countries from which they were re- 

 ceived. Of all pears, he says, the Costumine is the most deli- 

 cate and agreeable. The Falernian pear was esteemed for its 

 juice ; and the Tibernian, because it was preferred by the Em- 

 peror Tiberius. There were 'proud pears,' which were so called 

 because they ripened early and would not keep, and 'winter 

 pears,' pears for baking, as at the present day."* None of 

 these old Roman varieties have been handed down to us, and 

 we might believe some of them approached the buttery lusci- 

 ousness of our modern pears, did not Pliny pithily add, most 

 unfortunately for their reputation, " all pears whatsoever are but 

 a heav'y meat, unless they are well boiled or baked." 



In fact the really delicious qualities of this fruit were not de- 

 veloped until about the seventeenth century. And within the 

 last sixty years the pear, subjected to constant reproduction 

 from seed by Van Mons and his followers, and to hybridizing 

 or crossing by Mr. Knight and other English cultivators, ap- 

 pears, at length, to have reached almost the summit of perfec- 

 tion, in beauty, duration, and flavour. Of Professor Van Mons 

 and his labours of a whole life, almost devoted to pears, we have 

 already spoken in our first chapter. From among the 80,000 

 seedlings raised by himself, and the many thousands reared by 

 other zealous cultivators abroad, especially in Belgium — the 

 Eden of the pear tree — there have been selected a large num- 

 ber of varieties of high excellence. In this country, we are 

 continually adding to the number, as, in our newer soil, the 

 pear, following the natural laws of successive reproduction, is 

 constantly appearing in new seedling forms. The high flavour 

 of the Seckel pear, an American variety, as yet unsurpassed, in 

 this respect, by any European sort, proves the natural congeni- 

 ality of the climate of the northern states to this fruit. 



* Arboretvm Britannicv/m. 



