2 
October 31, 1878. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER, 
325 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
wevlllioe. OCT. 31—NOV. 6, 1878 Toupee un | Sun | afoon | Moon | Moon’s| ferore | Zot 
Month Week ‘ oven miata z ee adon tee | Rises. | Sets. | Rises. | Sets Ag esalll eared |veanr: 
Day. |Night..Mean.| h. m.| h. m.| h. m.| h. mJ] Days. | mM. 8 
31 | TH | Sale of Nursery Stock at Cambridge. 54.0 | 38.0 | 46.0 | 6 54] 4 384] 1 10} 9 10 6 16 1 ‘p04 
i) |} 39 ALL SAINTS’ Day. Kempfer died, 1716. 54.3 | 37.9 | 46.1 6 56] 4 32] 1 35]10 27 » 16 18) 5 
2 Ss 54.4 | 37.3 | 45.8 6 57 4 30 1 53) 11 41 8 16 19 | 306 
3 SUN | 20 SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY. 53.5 | 35.9 | 44.7 6 59 4 28 2 7{| morn. 9 16 19} 307 
4 M 52.1 36.6 | 44.3 Teel 4 26 2 20 0 52 10 16 18 | 308 
5 TU 52.9 | 37.2 | 45.0 7 3 4 25 2 31 Dial ali 16 17 | 309 
6 | W Sale of Bulbs at Stevens’s Rooms. | 52.4 | 36.9 | 44.7 7 S| 4 23) 2 43) 3 9 12 16 14} 310 
a enon observations taken near London during forty-three years, the average day temperature of the week is 53.5° ; and its night temperature 
NOTES ON PEARS. 
notes on the results of five years’ experience 
of more than fifty varieties of Pears may be 
of use to your readers in making a selection 
of the best sorts to provide a continuous 
supply of first-rate fruit from August to 
March. It is comparatively an easy matter 
to name fifty or a hundred good Pears, but few 
gardens are large enough to grow so many, and 
the object of my experiments has been to test all 
the best-known kinds I could obtain as to their merits 
and time of ripening. I began by reading through 
the descriptions of Pears in Dr. Hogg’s “ Fruit Manual” 
and noting down all the best, the result being a list of four 
or five times as many as I could possibly find room for ; 
but by arranging them according to the time of ripening as 
given in the “ Fruit Manual,” and carefully comparing their 
relative merits, I at last managed to reduce the list to 
between fifty and sixty, which were planted on the Quince 
stock and trained as oblique cordons on a wire trellis to 
obtain fruit in the shortest possible time. From the results 
of five seasons’ experience I should make the following 
selection. Dessert :-— 
August.—Beurré Giffard, small ; and Beurré de l’Assomp- 
tion, large. ; 
September to October.—Williams’ Bon Chrétien, large ; 
Souvenir du Congres, very large; Madame Treyve, large ; 
Beurré Superfin, large ; Comte de Lamy, small ; and Seckle, 
small. 
October.—Louise Bonne of Jersey, medium size. 
November to December.—General Todtleben, very large ; 
Maréchal de Cour, very large; Thompson’s, large ; and 
Doyenné du Comice, large. 
December to March.—Winter Nelis, small ; Beurré d’An- 
jou, large ; Nouvelle Fulvie, large ; Joséphine de Malines, 
small ; Bergamotte Esperen, small ; Olivier de Serres, small ; 
Prince Napoleon, small ; and Easter Beurré, large. 
For Cooking.—Catillac and Bellissime d’Hiver. 
They are placed as nearly as possible in the order of 
ripening, and will provide a continuous succession. Beurré 
Giffard comes first and has proved superior to Jargonelle, 
which is generally considered the earliest good Pear. Citron 
des Carmes and Beurré d’Amanlis are not worth growing 
bere. Beurré de l’Assomption ripens at the end of August, 
just before Wiliiams’ Bon Chrétien, is a very fine large 
fruit, perfumed, juicy, and of excellent flavour. Williams’ 
Bon Chrétien is too well known to require description, and 
is followed by Souvenir du Congrés, which is very much like 
it, only larger and later. Madame Treyve is a large juicy 
Pear with a delicate noyeau flavour, ripe in the beginning 
of September ; and is followed by Beurré Superfin, another 
fine large Pear, with a delicate perfume and fine flavour. 
Comte de Lamy comes in about the same time—the end of 
September or beginning of October, and though small is a 
most delicious Pear, being very juicy and richly flavoured, 
comparing in this respect with Seckle, another small Pear 
of the highest excellence ; Seckle being the richer of the 
No. 918.—Von. XXXV., NEW SERIES, 
two, while Comte de Lamy is the most vinous. The birds, 
no mean judges in such matters, always select these two 
Pears ; and this season, though discs of cardboard were 
| placed over the fruit, as recently recommended by Mr. 
| Radclyffe in the Journal, I have not secured a single un- 
pecked fruit. Confound the little rascals, there-is no cir- 
cumyenting them, and one feels sorely tempted to take 
one’s revenge in lark pies, or to run over to Paris for a 
week to see the finish of the Exhibition and learn how they 
cook small birds. In this way one might even discover a 
use for the sparrow. But to return to our subject. The 
Pears hitherto mentioned, like nearly all early Pears, require 
careful watching when ripening, as they are liable to go at 
the core ; experience is the best guide, but when in doubt 
play a trump—i.e., cut into one. 
The next on the list, Louise Bonne, is par excellence the 
October Pear, and with proper management can be made to 
last a whole month, as it keeps for several days even when 
quite ripe, and remains sound at the core to the last. It 
is of medium size, very juicy, and of delicious flavour ; 
but sometimes, especially with highly coloured fruit, slightly 
astringent. General Todtleben ripens in the beginning of 
November, is a very large handsome fruit with pink flesh, 
of a peculiar perfumed flavour something like rose water. 
It is well worth growing, but the fruit goes at the core, and 
the blossom is tender, being very liable to be cut off by 
spring frosts. About the same time Maréchal de Cour 
comes in, and is a fine large fruit with soft buttery flesh 
and abundant highly flavoured juice. Thompson’s mpens in 
November, and is one of the very best—buttery, very juicy, 
and exceedingly rich. Another very good Pear is Doyenné 
du Comice, ripening from the middle of November to 
December ; it is hardy, bears well, and produces fine large 
fruit, very juicy, rich, and highly flavoured ; as good as a 
Peach. 
The last five named are the pick of the autumn Pears, 
and if more are wanted Marie Louise may be grown, or 
British Queen, both very tender in bloom and liable to be 
cut off by spring frosts. Duchesse d’Angouléme, sometimes 
good, but generally gritty; Beurré Diel, large and showy, 
sometimes good, often mealy and insipid ; Glou Morgeau, 
uncertain, sometimes very good. These last three Pears are 
very fine as imported from the Channel Islands and France, 
but our climate does not suit them, except in favourable 
situations. Chaumontel is another of the same description ; 
where it succeeds it has the great merit of ripening gradually, 
and consequently lasting over a long period. Goubault is 
a hardy free-bearing Pear, highly flavoured but deficient 
in juice. Gansel’s Bergamot is good. Durondeau and Dr. 
Trousseau are very highly flavoured and juicy, but too 
astringent. Beurré Clairgeau is only a show Pear; and 
Doyenné Boussoch and Beurré Bachelier are very large and 
handsome, but utterly worthless. TForelle is very pretty 
and good for nothing. Beurré Hardy, Beurré Bosc, and 
many more might be mentioned, but with me they are not 
satisfactory. 
Having disposed of the autumn Pears, we now come to 
the winter supply, which is always rather uncertain, as the 
time of ripening can no longer be relied on, varying more 
No. 1570.—VOL. LX., OLD SERIES, 
