380 THE FRUIT MANUAL. 



ing, rather crisp, gritty at the core, and with a pleasant rose-water 

 flavour. 



A good but only second-rate pear ; ripe in the end of October and 

 during November. 



It was raised by M. Goubault, of Angers. 



Besi de Heric. See Besi d'HSry. 



BESI D'HERY (Bezi d'Hery; Besi de Heric; Bedd'Heri; Besi- 

 dery ; Bezi Royal; De Bourdeaux ; Wilding von Hery ; EiimmelMrne ; 

 Franzosische Kummelhirn). — Fruit, about medium size, two inches 

 and three-quarters wide and the same in height ; roundish. Skin, 

 thin, very smooth, bright green at first, but changing when it ripens 

 to pale yellow, with a slight tinge of red on the side next the sun, 

 strewed with very minute points, and with a patch of dehcate russet 

 round the eye and the stalk. Eye, large and open, with spreading 

 segments, set in a shallow depression. Stalk, slender, an inch and 

 a quarter long, inserted in a small round cavity. Flesh, white, fine- 

 grained, crisp, and juicy, with somewhat of a Muscat or Elder-flower 

 perfume. 



A first-rate cooking pear, in use from October to November. The 

 tree is vigorous, and a good bearer in rich soil, and succeeds well as a 

 standard. 



It was discovered early in the seventeenth century in the forest of Hfery, in 

 Brittany, between Rennes and Nantes. Mollet, writing in 1 652, says, "This variety 

 came recently from Brittany. The Bretons give it the name of Beside-Hery, signi- 

 fying the Pear of Henry ; for when the King Henry the Great, of happy memory, 

 travelled into Brittany to reduce the inhabitants to subjection, when he was at 

 Nantes he sent me to see a garden which is near Nantes, called Chass^e. Imme- 

 diately after I had arrived at Nantes the gentlemen of Rennes sent a basket of fruit 

 to his Majesty." 



Besidery. See Bed d'Hery. 



Besi de Landry. See Echassery. 



BESI MAI. — Fruit, large, obovate, rather uneven and irregular in 

 its outline. Skin, yellowish green at maturity, covered with fawn and 

 brown dots. Eye, open, placed in a very shallow basin, scarcely at aU 

 depressed. Stalk, an inch and a quarter long, inserted in a round 

 narrow cavity. Flesh, white, and when the fruit is thoroughly ripe, 

 somewhat buttery, sweet, and richly flavoured. 



A good dessert pear when it ripens, which is not very often. It 

 generally comes into use in May. 



This was raised by M. J. de Jonghe, of Brussels. It first fruited in 1856, when 

 the tree was eleven years old ; and in 1858 he sent me a fruit which in May was 

 very tender, buttery, and of excellent flavour. I have never found it to ripen well 

 in this country. 



BESI DE MONTIGNY {De Montiijny ; Bcmre Cullem ; Comtes>:i' 

 de Lunay; Doyenne Musque : Low's Bosc). — Fruit, medium sized, 

 obovate. Skin, thin, smooth, and shining, bright green at first but 



