No. 129.] 559 



Judge Van Wyck — The pear is generally considered one of our 

 most important fruits, it is certainly next to the apple in impor- 

 tance, and some think superior. It can be used in as many dif- 

 ferent ways, or most kinds of them can ; and some of the richest 

 and most delicate flavor can be preserved a considerable portion 

 of the winter, others all winter, as well as the apple. Most pears, 

 especially the later ones, improve by being taken off the tree be 

 fore they get quite ripe, and allowed to ripen off the tree. Good 

 pears are generally preferred to apples as a dessert ; they possess 

 a pulp tender and melting, some with the juice of a sugary aro- 

 matic flavor, others a little tart, all rich in flesh, and juices deli- 

 cious to the taste. Those for cooking should be large in size, the 

 flesh firm, not melting, austere rather than mild and sweet. 

 Dried, they will keep for years, if properly done. The French 

 excel in preparing the pears in this manner, they do it by an oven 

 and in ditferent ways, according to the uses they wish to make 

 of them ; some they simply dry, others they partially boil in wa- 

 ter a little before maturity, peel and drain them, then place them 

 before the oven again, here they remain twelve hours, after which 

 they are steeped in syrup, to which are added sugar, some spices 

 and a little brandy ; then returned to the oven, heated to a less 

 degree than at first. This is repeated until they are sufficiently 

 dried or of a clear brown color, and firm transparent flesh, when 

 they are packed away, and, if well done, will keep, and for a 

 long time, and make a rich palatable preserve. As has been 

 stated, a fermented liquor is made of pears of any size, much in 

 the manner of cider, and the best perry is stated to be little in- 

 ferior to wine, and the most austere fruits produce the best liquor. 

 The French also excel in raising the pear ; they have a great 

 many varieties, it is said, 1,500 or more, and some ol the best 

 kind ; they graft some of them on the quince stock, to make 

 dwarfs or some of a low stature and to improve the fruit, and they 

 are kept short, and by great care in pruning and without excess, 

 they preserve and increase the pyramidal form, which the tree 

 naturally has. They also bend the limbs down a little below 

 the horizontal, and make them grow towards the earth instead 

 of upwards ; this preserves the dwarf stature, and they encourage 

 and train the limbs to shoot out from the trunk near the earth. 



