144, On the Beurre Spence and other Pears. 



right. But you shall hear from me again on this subject 

 before I send you any plans of gardener's houses. 



Yours, very truly, 



I. P. Burnard. 



Formosa Cottage, Holloway, 

 \Qth February, 1826. 



Art. XIV. On the Beurre Spence and other new Pears, and 

 on the art of keeping Fruit. By W. Braddick, Esq. F.H.S. 

 of Boughton Mount, Kent. 



Dear Sir, 

 In the account of new pears planted by me on Coxheath, 

 as published by you in the first number of the Gardener's 

 Magazine, there is an omission of the word Spence, after 

 the word Beurre. As it cost me much trouble to obtain 

 possession of a bud of this fine pear, I feel desirous that this 

 omission should not go uncorrected, in order that the pear 

 may be more generally known : the more especially as it has 

 ripened well on espalier and standard trees, both in Surrey 

 and Kent, which inclines me to think that it will prove a 

 valuable acquisition to our fruit growers. Its history is as 

 follows : — About seven or eight years ago, when I was just 

 going to undertake my annual journey to the Continent, for 

 the purpose of collecting buds of new fruits, my much 

 esteemed and valued friend, Roger Wilbraham, Esq., hap- 

 pened to call on me ; in the course of conversation we spoke 

 of the advantages which posterity would derive from the 

 labours of those horticulturists of the present day, who are 

 now employed in raising new fruits, through the know- 

 ledge which is pretty generally disseminated of the sexual 

 intercourse of plants. Mr. Wilbraham said, that it would 

 be advantageous to discard all the bad, and to make a 

 judicious selection of a moderate number of good table 

 fruits ; the time, labour, trouble, difficulty, and expence which 

 would attend the bringing this matter about, owing to the 

 many thousands of new fruits yearly coming forward, was 

 then spoken of, as it is supposed that not more than two or 

 three per cent, of any number of new fruits raised from seed, 

 turn out to be superior in goodness to the parents from 

 whence the seed is derived. Mr. Wilbraham then suggested 

 to me that I should ask such amateurs of new fruits as I 

 might visit during my intended journey, which of all the 

 fruits raised by each individual were esteemed the best, and 



