Slil'TEMBER 4, 18S9.] 



Garden and Forest. 



427 



with i^Teat persistency — u very valuable feature in any tree. 



Winter Nelis is a small russet pear of excellent quality when 

 well grown, but the tree generally loses its foliage early before 

 the pears mature, and, therefore, they seldom reach perfec- 

 tion. The tree is a slow, slender grower, and should be top 

 grafted on some more vig-orous kind. 



Dana's Hovey is among winter pears what the Seckel is 

 among autumn varieties. The tree is a good, iiealthy grower, 

 and produces fruit about the size of the Seckel, but better and 

 more liighly flavored. If it were only a little larger ! 



Sweetness is a prominent characteristic of most of the 

 pears so far named. In Superfin we have an acid pear of 

 large size, green at maturity, but sometimes ripening up a 

 bright yellow. In the latter case the acidity generally be- 



Urbaniste is another large pear, in quality equal to any 

 named ; skin, smooth, greenish-yellow ; Hesh, melting, but- 

 tery, rich and juicy. The tree is a fair grower, but is not 

 popular among dealers and planters because, like the Tyson 

 and some others, it is tardy in coming into fruit. The old 

 adage about planting pears for one's heirs is not regarded 

 with favor by tree-planters now-a-days ; they are in a hurry, 

 and woiUd like the trees to commence bearing at once. When 

 one has old trees of undesirable kinds, a new head of Urba- 

 niste could be grafted on and this excellent variety would 

 soon come into fruit. 



I have grown many other pears, but the list is long enough 

 to meet the wants of an amateur. I have mentioned only the 

 leading and most popular varieties now before the public. 



Poet's Narcissus fiowerine; in the s^rass. — See pai^e 421 



comes much modilied and assumes a rich, vinous flavor that 

 can hardly fail to please any palate not wholly partial to sweet- 

 ness. Seasons and soils have much to do with the full and 

 thorough development of this pear more so, perhaps, than 

 any other. I have eaten it when I could desire nothing better, 

 and again when it was disagreeably sour. Stewed or canned 

 it is excellent, and needs no lemon or other flavoring as do the 

 Bartletts and other sweet kinds. The tree is a good, thriftv 

 grower and a fair bearer. 



Diel is another acid pear of large size and very good qualitv 

 when in perfection. The Hesh is more coarse^ and some- 

 times gritty and less acid than the preceding. The tree 

 grows well and bears well. But the fruit sometimes cracks 

 and the leaves fall prematurely, and we cannot expect trees 

 that do not hold their foliage till the fruit is mature to pro- 

 duce that fruit in perfection. 



trees of which can be easily (jl.itained. One who has a longing 

 for the pears of his childhood had better get cions or buds 

 and insert them in stock more easily obtainable. 



And what about the Kieft'er ? Well, if one wants a handsome, 

 strong-growing tree, and an abundant cropper of fruit for can- 

 ning piu-poses, the Kieffer just meets his case, but as a table 

 fruit it does not deserve planting. It is a v'aluable substitute for 

 the quince, and, as it will produce fruit far more abundantly 

 and cheaply, it is well worth planting for its excellence in taste 

 and appearance when preserved. 



A few trees on the smallest place can be made in ;i short 

 time to supply a family with a great variety in sufticient quan- 

 tity for all purposes, by making one tree yield several kinds of 

 those least required. A little judgment in this direction would 

 secure a greater variety, covering the season moreert'ectually, 

 and avoiding a useless anti wasteful surplus of a single 



