32G 



HISTORY OF THK VKUETAIiLE KINGDOM. 



cal^ obtuse, serrate; tlio flowers in terminating 

 villose corymbs produced from wood of the 

 preceding year, or from buds gradually formed 

 on that of several years' growth on the extremi- 

 ties of vcrj' short protruding shoots, technically 

 called spurs. It is found in a wild state in 

 England, and abundantly in France and Ger- 

 many, as well as other parts of Europe, not ex- 

 cepting Russia, as for north as latitude 57°- It 

 grows in almost any soil. The cultivated tree 

 differs from the apple not only in having a ten- 

 dency to the pyramidal form, but also in being 

 more apt to send out tap roots, in being, as a 

 seedling plant, longer of coming to bearing, tak- 

 ing from fifteen to sixteen years ; and when on 

 its OA-sTi root, or grafted on a wild pear stock, of 

 being much longer lived. In a dry soil it will 

 exist for centuries, and still keep its health, pro- 

 ductiveness, and vigour. The pear has been 

 known from the remotest antiquity. 



Amongst the trees which Homer describes as 

 forming the orchard of Laertes, the fother of 

 Ulysses, we find the pear. Pliny mentions several 

 sorts of pears which were grown in Italy, and 

 particularly mentions that a fermented liquor 

 was formed of their expressed juice. It is pro- 

 bable that the Romans brouglit the cultivated 

 pear to England, and that the monks paid great 

 attention to its ^aiiLties. There is a tradition 

 that King John was poisoned in a dish of pears 

 \>y the monks of Swinstead; and the tale, whether 

 true or false, would imply that the fruit was 

 such as the churchmen would offer to the mon- 

 arch as a luxury. In an old book of household 

 accounts of Henry VIII., there is an item of 

 twopence "to a woman who gaff the kyng peres;" 

 and in the time of Gerard, we find that great 

 attention was paid to their growth by the nur- 

 serymen in the neighbourhood of London. Tlie 

 old licrbalist, after declaring that in his time to 

 ^vrite of the sorts of apples and peai-s, "and 

 those exceeding good," would require "a par- 

 ticular volume," adds, "Master Richard Pointer 

 has them all growing in his ground at Twicken- 

 ham, near London, avIio is a most cunning and 

 curious gTafterand planter of all manner of rare 

 fruits; and also in tlie ground of an excellent 

 grafter and painful planter. Master Henry Bun- 

 bury, of Touthil street near unto Westminster; 

 and likewise in the ground of a diligent and most 

 affectionate lover of ])lants. Master Warner, neere 

 Ilorsly Down, by London ; and in divers other 

 grounds about London." The neighbourhood of 

 Worcester was probably then celebrated, as at 

 the present day, for the cultivation of this fruit, 

 for three pears are borne in the arms of the 

 city. 



Most of the fine sorts of pears are of contin- 

 ental origin, the horticulturists of France and 

 the Netherlands having paid more attention to 

 that species of fruit than those of Iviukind. As 



these varieties have retained their original names, 

 a good many laughable corniptions have been 

 produced in their popular nomenclature. Tims 

 the Bon-cltrrl/cn, is converted into the I>07i- 

 crvirliiiifi; the Bciirri' into the Burii; the Chau- 

 montcUe into the Charm hi ^tcl. Such odd names 

 as the bishop's thumb, and manj^ others whicli 

 our fruiterers use, ma}' probably be traced to a 

 similar caus^ In the names of apples there is 

 the same corruption, as liunnet for Beiiidtr. 

 The names of fruits in all countries occasionally 

 present some laughable anomalies, such as the 

 "■Bon-Chreticn Tare," one of the finest of the 

 French pears. 



Tlie Chincs\ ^vho are said to carr}' the culti- 

 vation of fruit to much greater perfection than 

 the European gardeners, are stated by Marco 

 Polo to have pears, white in the inside, melting, 

 and witlr a fragrant smell, of the enormous weight 

 of ten pounds each. 



The wood of the pear is much firmer than 

 that of the apple, and it is much less liable to l)e 

 attacked by insects, or to decay. In some of the 

 old oi-eliavd^, wliere the apple trees have wholly 

 disappeared, the pears are in full vigour, and 

 bear abundantly. This is remarkably the case 

 at the old Abliey garden at Lindores, on tlie 

 south bank of the Tay, in the county of Fife: 

 disease could have nothing to do witli the death 

 of the apple trees there, as the soil is one of tho 

 ver}' best for apples in the kingdom, being fine 

 strong black loam to a great depth. Yet there 

 are man}' old apple trees in the kingdom. At 

 Ilorton, in Buckinghamshire, where Milton 

 spent some of his earlier }ears, there is an apple 

 tree still growing, of which the oldest people re- 

 member to have heard it said that the poet was 

 accustomed to sit under it. And upon the low 

 leads of the church at Rumsoy, in Ilampsliire, 

 there is an apple tree still bearing fruit, -which 

 is said to be two hundred yeai's old. 



The fruit catalogue of the Ilorti.'ultural So- 

 ciety contains above six hundred varieties of the 

 pear; and it is there observed, that "the newly 

 introduced Flemish kiiid<, arc of much more 

 importance than the greater part of the sorts 

 which have been hitherto cultivated in Great 

 Britain, and when brought into use will give 

 quite a new feature to the dessert." 



Good pears are a luscious fruit. They are 

 characterised by a saccharine aromatic juice, a 

 soft and pearly liquid pulp melting in the mouth, 

 as in the henrres or butter pear; or a firm and 

 crisp consistence, as in the winter bcrgamots. 

 Kitchen pears should be of a large size, A\-ith tlio 

 flesh firm, neither brittle nor melting, and ratlior 

 austere than sweet, as the wardens. Pears for 

 the mairafaoturo of jxrri/, may be either lai'gc 

 or small, but the more austere the taste the better 

 I will be the liquor. The wild pear produces an 

 excellent perry. 



