62 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



QUESTION DRAWER. 



THE BARTLETT PEAR. 



5. Having been for many years interested in 

 horticultural matters in England, I was sur- 

 prised on my arrival here, of seven years ago, 

 to find that well-known pear " Williams' 

 Bon Chretien," to be so largely grown and 

 known here, only under the name of " Bart- 

 lett. Can you tell me why this fine pear 

 should be deprived of its right name ? — 

 Yours faithfully, Arthur Geo. Heaven. 



We are told that the rose would 

 smell as sweet if called b}' any other 

 name, and so, fortunately, the change 

 in name cannot deprive this pear of its 

 excellent qualities. The name "Wil- 

 liams' Bon Chretien," or Good Chris- 

 tian, is a good name, and, no doubt, 

 was bestowed upon it on account of 

 its being sound to the core, and not 

 deceiving the eater as such pears 

 as the King Sessing, for example, 

 which are hypocrites, presenting a 

 fair exterior, but rotten at heart. 



The pear originated in Berkshire, 

 England, about the year 1770, and 

 was propagated by a Mr. Williams, 

 of London. When the pear was 

 first brought to America, its English 

 name was lost, and it was dubbed 

 the Bartlett, after Mr. Enoch Bart- 

 lett, of Dorchester, near Boston, who 

 cultivated it and disseminated it 

 throughout the countr3^ It France 

 it is called Poire Guillaume, or the 

 William, which is, of course, its pro- 

 per name, but it is now so univer- 

 sally known in America as the Bart- 

 lett, that it is quite impossible to 

 correct the misnomer. 



This pear is a greater success in 



our chmate than in England, and is 

 the leading pear in our markets dur- 

 ing the month of September. 



For some years past we have been 

 in the habit of thinning out the crop 

 of Bartletts in the month of August, 

 barreling the prematures up and ship- 

 ping themaway. Owing to their ten- 

 dency to ripen, if gathered green, the 

 experiment has proved a success, 

 these prematures usually bringing a 

 fair price, while the remainder, thus 

 thinned, grow to a better size. 



POMACE AS MANURE. 



6. Would a mi.xture of pomace and straw 

 from cider mills be suitable to put round 

 bearing apple trees ? I am about to try it, 

 but perhaps some of your subscribers can 

 speak from experience. — Yours truly, J. B., 

 Meaford. 



There is no doubt a certam amount 

 of value in apple pomace as a man- 

 ure for fruit trees, for the apple skins, 

 seeds and pulp contam a per centage 

 of potash and phosphoric acid, ele- 

 ments which are especially useful as 

 fertilizers for the apple orchard. But, 

 in practice, the writer has found 

 very little direct benefit from the 

 application of them, probably because 

 not in a condition to be taken up by 

 the growing plants. In our opinion, 

 it would be better to compost with 

 other manure, and then apply after it 

 is well rotted. 



We shall be glad to hear from our 

 readers on this subject, either from 

 a scientific or a practical standpoint. 



