154 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
The parent tree of Doyenné du Comice was taken from the first seed 
bed made in the fruit-garden of the Comice Horticole, Angers, Department 
of Maine-et-Loire, France. In November, 1849, it produced its first fruit, 
which was at once so highly esteemed that it was named Doyenné du 
Comice. It was placed on the market with unusual promptitude and rapidly 
distributed in foreign lands, reaching America about 1850. The variety 
was recommended for general cultivation by the American Pomological 
Society in 1862. 
Tree vigorous, characteristically upright, dense, usually productive; branches smooth, 
dull gray mingled with greenish-brown, marked with large lenticels; branchlets long, 
brown tinged with red, glabrous, with many small, slightly raised, conspicuous lenticels. 
Leaf-buds large, medium to long, conical, pointed, nearly free; leaf-scars prominent. 
Leaves 3} in. long, 13 in. wide, oval, leathery; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long. 
Flower-buds short, conical, free; blossoms open late; flowers 13 in. across, in dense clusters, 
about 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 7 in. long, slender, pubescent, light green. 
Fruit ripe in late October and November; large, 3 in. long, 22 in. wide, obovate-obtuse- 
pyriform or roundish, with unequal sides; stem 1} in. long, very thick, usually curved; 
cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted and wrinkled, often with a fleshy ring around the 
base of the stem; calyx open; lobes separated at the base, long, narrow, acuminate; basin 
medium to wide, obtuse, often furrowed; skin tough and granular, smooth except for the 
russet markings, dull; color clear yellow, often with a very faint russet-red blush on the 
exposed cheek, the surface heavily covered with large patches and nettings of attractive 
russet; dots many, very small, dark brown, obscure; flesh tinged strongly with yellow, 
fine-grained near the outside but granular toward the core, melting, tender, buttery, very 
juicy, sweet and vinous, aromatic; quality very good to best. Core closed, with clasping 
core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, rather plump, acute, 
often abortive. 
DUCHESSE D’ANGOULEME 
1. Kenrick Am. Orch. 171. 1832. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 381. 1845. 3. Ann. Pom. Belge 
1:21, Pl. 1853. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1862. 5. Pom. France 1: No. 17, Pl. 17. 1863. 6. Mas 
Le Verger 3: Pt. 2, 79, fig. 136. 1866-73. 7. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:98, figs. 1869. 8. Jour. Hort.N. S. 
24:26. 1873. 9. Guide Prat. 59, 267. 1876. 10. Hist. Mass. Hort. Soc, 1829-78. 224. 1880. 11. Hogg 
Fruit Man. 569. 1884. 
Duchess of Angouléme. 12. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 371. 1831. 
Angouleme. 13. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883. 
Herzogin von Angouléme. 14. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 46, Pl. 43. 1894. 
The fruits of Duchesse d’Angouléme excite admiration and wonder by 
their enormous size. They may always be known by their great size, 
squat pyriform shape, and uneven knobby surfaces. Well grown, the pears 
have other virtues than size, as the flesh is buttery and melting with a rich 
and delicious flavor; but poorly grown, and on unfavorable soils, the flesh 
is granular, coarse-grained, but half-melting and nearly devoid of the rich- 
