46 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
fairest Fruit. I know one’of them near forty Foot high, that measures six 
Foot and six Inches in Girt, a Yard from the Ground, and has borne thirty 
Bushels at a Time: and this year I measured an Orange Pear, that grew in my 
own Orchard, of eleven Inches round the Bulge. I have a Warden Pear 
Tree, that measures five Foot six Inches round. One of my Neighbors has 
a Bergamot Pear Tree that was brought from England in a Box, about the 
Year 1643, that now measures six Foot about, and has borne twenty-two 
Bushels of fine Pears in one Year. About twenty years since, the Owner 
took a Cyon, and grafted it upon a common Hedge Pear; but the Fruit 
does not prove altogether so good, and the Rind or Skin, is thicker than 
that of the Original.” 
Thus, early in the history of Massachusetts, the pear was largely 
planted and became a prominent fruit. These early plantations grew so 
well that no doubt they inspired the horticulturists of the first half of the 
nineteenth century, of which the names of Dearborn, Hovey, Kenrick, 
the two Mannings, and Wilder are notable in the history of the pear in 
this country, to undertake the popularization of this fruit by extensive 
culture, by breeding new varieties, and by the introduction of the best 
pears from Europe. Their work, as we shall see later, gave pear-growing 
its first great impetus in America. Until the middle of the last century, 
the pear industry in America centered in Massachusetts; and most of the 
new varieties which originated in this country and nearly all of the intro- 
ductions from abroad came from that state. 
The pear was not neglected in the other New England states as the 
horticultural records of all attest, but its history in the several states is 
so similar in time and events that the account of its early culture in Massa- 
chusetts suffices for the whole region. It must, however, be noted that 
the pear was introduced in Maine at a very early date, probably by the 
French. In an orchard on the east bank of the Sheepscot, below Wis- 
casset Bay, a venerable pear-tree stood until early in the nineteenth century 
of such girt and height that it was supposed to be more than 200 years old. 
Of the planting of this orchard there are no records nor traditions. The 
most reasonable supposition was that the trees had been planted there by 
the French in one of the several attempts of France to colonize the coast 
of Maine." 
This introduction of the French in the history of the pear in the New 
World, brings us to a discussion of the part they took in bringing this fruit 
to America. The debt to France for early horticulture in America rests 
1 Report of Me. Pom. Soc. 7:1873. 
