10 



JOUENAL OF HOKTICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ January 5, 1871. 



shape the upraised head and body of an excited cobra, with 

 hood expanded and prepared for a spring ; the head is at right 

 angles with the hollow vertical body, and apparently presents 

 no opening by which an insect could enter ; under the place 

 where the lower jawwonld be, hang two large reddish appendages 

 like the wattles of a fowl. At Chelsea this plant possesses such 

 an extraordinary attraction for flies (principally blue-bottles), 

 that the hollow " pitchers " are generally full of their dead 

 bodies ; what this attraction is I am unable to say, as the plant 

 is scentless. 



Last year I had a Darlingtonia before me for some three or 

 four hours, whilst sketching it, and I then observed that the 

 blow-flies made straight for it immediately they entered the 

 room. Insects alight on the red wattles and then fiy upwards 

 into the (previously unseen) red-lipped entrance to the tube ; 

 owing to the sudden twist in the neck of the pitcher, they are 

 at once compelled to descend the hollow body, and, as far as I 

 have observed, they never return alive. They keep up a buzzing 

 noise for half an hour or so, and then apparently die. 



The old pitcbers are generally fall of dead flies, &c., and the 

 lowermost insects, in rotting, cause the pitchers to decay and 

 split, the flies within being then displayed. These dead flies 

 often drop out through the fissures and become grouped round 

 the bottom of the plant. — Woethington G. Siiith. — (Nature.) 



NOTABLE PEARS. 



FosrANTE Du CoMicE. — As a society there is none which 

 has done more for the advancement of pomology than the 

 " Cornice Horticole of Angers." Like the Royal Horticultural 

 Society of London, it is one of the few that enjoy the privilege 

 of possessing a garden where horticultural experiments are 

 conducted, and where pomology receives more than ordinary 

 attention. The number of new varieties of fruit which have 

 originated in that garden is sufScient evidence of this state- 

 ment ; and the mere fact that such Pears as Doyenne du 

 Comice, Fondante du Cornice, and Cassante du Comice, have 

 originated there speaks highly in favour of the establishment. 



specimens of the new varieties of fruits raised in that city, we 

 now acknowledge ; and during the past season it has fruited in 

 the garden of the Boyal Horticultural Society at Chiswick. 

 Having now ascertained to what extent this variety is adapted 

 to our climate, and having found it worthy of notice,, we take 

 an early opportunity of making our readers acquainted with its 

 merits. It is only when foreign varieties have been grown in 

 this country that any confidence can be placed in their reputed 

 characteristics. 



This variety is obovate in shape, even and regular in its out- 

 line, smaller and more symmetrical than when grown on the 

 Continent, where it is rather uneven. Skin smooth, of a uni- 

 form yellowish or pea green, covered with distinct markings 

 of russet and russet dots. Eye small and open, with erect 

 acute segments, set in a very deep and smooth round basin. 

 Stalk woody, also green like the skin, about an inch long, and 

 inserted obliquely with a fleshy lip on one side of it. Flesh 

 white, crisp, very juicy and sweet, slightly acidulous, and very 

 refreshing, being in this respect somewhat similar to the old 

 St. Germain. 



Eipe in the end of October, and the beginning of November. 



The tree is a good bearer, and not at all a strong grower. 

 It succeeds best on the Pear stock, and as it makes rather an 

 awkward pyramid, the bush form will be the most proper for it. 



Ehfa>;t Pkodigue (syn. Rousselet Enfant Prodigue : Nec- 

 tarine of Leroy, erroneously). — This is one of numerous va- 

 rieties raised by Van Mone, which keep cropping up perio- 

 dically, as additional evidences of the indefatigable labours of 

 the industrious Professor. It was raised about 1830 in his 

 garden at Louvain, and although it is well known on the Con- 

 tinent, it has never been much cultivated in this country. If; 

 is not always of first-rate quality, but in situations such as the 

 west of England, and other favoured localities, where it does 

 succeed, its fine brisk sweet juice and high flavour commend it 

 as a variety well worth growing. 



The fruit is variable in size ; the specimen here figured 

 being larger than ia usual. It is uneven and bossed in its out- 

 line. The skin is clear dark green, changing as it ripens ta 

 pale yellow, which is sometimes quite obscured with veins and 



Fondante dn Comice. 



Fondante du Cornice, which we now introduce to our readers, 

 first fruited in the Society's garden at Angers in the year 1819. 

 It has been slow in coming into notice in this country, pro- 

 bably from the ignorance of cultivators of its merits. Six 

 years ago we met with it in the collection of M. Andre Leroy, 

 at Angers, to whose courtesy in famishing us with numerous 



Enfant Prodigue. 



mottles of cinnamon-coloured russet. Eye large and open, 

 with broad, flat, leaf-like segments set in a rather deep and 

 uneven basin. Stalk half an inch long, woody, set in a wide 

 shallow depression. Flesh greenish under the skin, crisp, and 

 half melting, very juicy, sweet, acidulous, and with a fine 

 aroma partaking of that of the Seckle. 



