124 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
BARTLETT 
1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 334, fig. 134. 1845. 2. Horticulturist 2:169. 1847-48. 3. Proc. Nat. 
Con. Fr. Gr. 29. 1848. 4. Hovey Fr. Am. 2:11, Pl. 1851. 5. Horticulturist N. S. 3:350, Pl. 1853. 
6. Field Pear Cult. 190, 276, fig. 66. 1858. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 666, fig. 1869. 8. Ont. Dept. 
Agr. Fr. Ont. 148, fig. 1914. 
Williams' Bon Chrétien. 9. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 350. 1831. 10. Prince Pom. Man. 1:137. 
1831. 11. Hogg Fruit Man. 664. 1884. 
Williams’ Apothekerbirne. 12. Dochnahl Fithr. Obstkunde 2:181. 1856. 
Bon Chrétien Williams’. 13. Pom. France 1: No. 16, Pl. 16. 1863. 14. Mas Le Verger 2:23, fig. 10. 
1866-73. 
Williams. 15. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:758, fig. 1869. 
Williams Christbirne. 16. Lauche Deut. Pom. Il: No. 18, Pl. 18. 1882. 17. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 
298. 1889. 
Bartlett leads all other pears in number of trees in New York, and vies 
with Kieffer for the greatest number in America. Its fruits are more com- 
mon and more popular in American markets than those of any other pear. 
When the characters of the variety are passed in review, although several 
poor ones of fruit and tree appear, the popularity of Bartlett with growers 
and sellers, if not with consumers, seems justified. As with the leading 
variety of any fruit, the preéminently meritorious character of this one is 
its great adaptability to different climates, soils, and situations. Thus, 
Bartlett is grown with profit in every pear-growing region in America and 
in all is grown in greater quantities than any other sort excepting, perhaps, 
the notorious Kieffer. Another character which commends this variety to 
pear-growers is fruitfulness — barring frosts or freezes, the trees bear full 
crops year after year. Moreover, the trees are very vigorous, attain large 
size, bear young, live long, are easily managed in the orchard, and thrive on 
both standard and quince stocks. The pears are large, handsome, of good 
but not of the best quality, and keep and ship remarkably well. 
Bartlett is not without serious faults, however. The trees blight 
badly, and are not much above the average in resistance to blight, the black 
plague of the pear. Neither are they as hardy to cold or to heat as those 
of some other varieties. They are scarcely hardier to cold than those of 
the peach, and cannot withstand the summer heat of the southern, or of 
the Mississippi Valley states. Another serious defect of the trees is that, 
more than those of any other standard variety, their blossoms require cross- 
fertilization. The fruits are satisfactory in all characters excepting quality. 
There are many better-flavored pears. The fruits lack the rich, perfumed 
flavor of Seckel on one hand, and the piquant, vinous taste of Winter Nelis 
on the other. But the pears are much above the average in quality, and 
