THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 131 
size and luxuriance of foliage. Very old trees have a nobility of aspect 
possessed by few other pears. While slow in coming in bearing, after fruit- 
ing begins the trees bear regularly and abundantly. The variety does not 
succeed well on the quince unless double-worked. Unfortunately, the 
trees are tender to cold and somewhat too susceptible to blight. Beurré 
Bosc has long been a favorite in the pear regions of Europe and America, 
and its culture in this country may be recommended for the home, for local 
and general markets, and for exportation. 
This pear is a native of Belgium, having been raised from seed in 1807 
by Dr. Van Mons, the renowned pomologist of Louvain, and was in the 
first instance named by him Calebasse Bosc in honor of M. Bosc, a dis- 
tinguished French naturalist. In 1820, it was received at the garden of 
the Horticultural Society of London under the name Beurré Bosc, and Robert 
Thompson, at that time Director of the gardens, thought it best to retain this 
name. The variety was early introduced into France. About 1832 or 
1833, Robert Manning and William Kenrick received cions in the United 
States from Van Mons and from the London Horticultural Society. The 
variety was cataloged by the American Pomological Society at its first 
meeting in 1848. 
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, productive, not an early 
bearer; trunk stocky; branches smooth, brownish, covered with ash-gray scarf-slin, with 
large lenticels; branchlets brownish, tinged with gray, glossy, smooth, nearly glabrous, 
with slightly raised, conspicuous lenticels. 
Leaf-buds obtuse, pointed, appressed; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 3 in. long, 1% in. 
wide, ovate, thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely crenate; petiole 1} in. 
long. Flower-buds large, conical, pointed, free; flowers open early, 13 in. across, showy, 
in dense clusters, from ro to 20 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. long, slightly pubescent, 
light green. 
Fruit ripe in late October and November; large, 33 in. long, 2} in. wide, uniform in 
size, acute-obovate-pyriform, with a very long, tapering neck, uniform in shape and very 
symmetrical; stem 14 in. long, curved; cavity very obtuse or lacking, occasionally very 
shallow and narrow, wrinkled, russeted, with a fleshy ring folded up around the stem, 
slightly lipped; calyx open, small; lobes short, broad, obtuse; basin very shallow, narrow, 
obtuse, smooth, symmetrical; skin slightly granular, tender, roughened by russet, dull; 
color dark yellow, overspread with thick, dark russet, laid on in streaks and patches, with 
a cheek of solid russet; dots small, light russet, obscure; flesh yellowish-white, slightly 
granular, tender and melting, buttery, very juicy, with a rich, delicious, aromatic flavor; 
quality very good to best. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, 
wide, conical; seeds wide, short, plump, obtuse. 
