PEARS. 413 



and slender. Flesh, yellowish white, tender, and juicy, hut somewhat 

 mealy, and having the flavour of the Swan's Egg. 



A second-rate pear ; ripe in November. The tree is a great bearer. 



Raised by Mr. T. A. Knight, at Downton Castle, Herefordshire. 



Brown Admiral. See Summer Archduke. 



BROWN BEURRE {d'Amboise; Benedictine ; Beurre Oris; Beurre 

 Dore; Beurre d'Amboise; Beurre Boux; Beurre du Roi; Beurre de Ter- 

 werenne; Badham's ; Isambert le Bon). — -Fruit, large, three inches wide 

 and three inches and three-quarters long ; oblong obovate. Skin, green, 

 almost entirely covered with thin brown russet and faintly tinged with 

 reddish brown on the side next the sun. Eye, small and open, set in 

 an even shallow basin. Stalk, an inch long; thickest at the base, where 

 it is inserted in a narrow round cavity with generally a small fleshy lip 

 on one side. Flesh, greenish white under the skin, but yellowish at 

 the centre, melting, tender, and buttery, and sprightly with a rich 

 musky flavour. 



An old and favourite dessert pear of great excellence ; ripe in Octo- 

 ber. The tree is hardy, and will succeed on either the pear or quince 

 stocks, and upon almost every variety of soil, except it be too moist, 

 and then the shoots are apt to canker ; but it requires a wall to have 

 the fruit in perfection. The colour of the fruit is very subject to 

 change, according to the soil and stock upon which it is grown, and 

 thus have arisen the different synonymes of Red, Grey, Brown, and 

 Golden Beurre. Many old gardeners maintain that the Grey and 

 Brown Beurre are wholly distinct, but in such cases the Brown Beurre 

 referred to is the B. d'Angleterre, whilst the Grey Beurre is the 

 variety here described. The fruit are large, grey, and long, and richly 

 flavoured, when grown upon a vigorous pear stock even in dry light 

 soils, but smaller and of redder colour when grown on the quince even 

 if placed in rich deep soil. 



This very old pear is mentioned by the earliest French authors, and it has been 

 cultivated in this country for upwards of two centuries, for it is mentioned by Eea 

 in 1665 as "Boeare de Roy, a good French pear of a dark brown colour, long form, 

 and very good taste." 



Buchanan's Spring Beurre. See Verulam. 



BUFFUM. — ^Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide and 

 two inches and three-quarters high ; obovate, blunt at the stalk, even 

 and regular in its outline. Skin, rather rough, vrith dark brown russet; 

 on the side next the sun it has a bright orange cheek, surrounded with 

 duU rusty red, which extends to the greenish yellow on the shaded side. 

 Eye, very small, set in a rather deep basin. Stalk, stout and woody, 

 inserted in a deep and wide cavity. Flesh, yellowish, crisp, coarse- 

 grained, not juicy, rather sweet, and with a marked flavour of anise. 



A pear of ordinary quality ; ripe in October. 



This was raised in America and originated in Rhode Island, where it is esteemed 

 a variety of high merit. I have never found it so in this country. 



