156 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
irregular, often lipped; calyx partly open, small; lobes short, narrow, acute; basin medium 
to deep, abrupt, furrowed and uneven, often corrugated; skin thick, granular, roughened 
with russet; color dull yellow, streaked, spotted and netted with dull russet; dots numerous, 
russet, conspicuous; flesh white, firm becoming somewhat melting and quite tender when 
fully mature, granular, juicy, sweet, rich and delicious when fully mature; quality good 
to very good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; 
seeds small, narrow, flat, acute, very often abortive. 
DUCHESSE D’ORLEANS 
1. Kenrick Am. Orch. 143. 1841. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1862. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 
749. 1869. 4. Hogg Fruit Man. 570. 1884. 
Duchess of Orleans. 5. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:91, Pl. 1851. 
Saint-Nicolas. 6. Pom. France 1: No. 33, Pl. 33. 1863. 7. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 343, fig. 1906. 
Beurré de Saint-Nicolas. 8. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 137, fig. 67. 1866-73. 9. Leroy Dict. Pom. 
13426, fig. 1867. 
Butterbirne von Saint-Nicolas. 10. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 191. 1889. 
In the middle of the last century this pear was heralded as one of the 
best of the French varieties which were then coming to this country in great 
numbers, but it is now almost lost to cultivation. While in no way remark- 
able, the variety is too valuable to be discarded. As the color-plate shows, 
the fruits are prepossessing in appearance. The pears are bright yellow, 
with a brilliant cheek, the whole fruit being more or less mottled with golden 
russet. Few pears are smoother of skin or more symmetrical in shape, and 
the fruits are more uniform in size than those of most varieties. The 
quality, as well as the appearance, is pleasing. While the flesh is a little dry 
and not as rich in flavor as that of most other varieties of its season, it is 
so crisp and refreshingly piquant in contrast to the sweeter, buttery pears 
with which it ripens, its season being just after that of Bartlett, that the 
variety finds favor with all who like pears. The variety fails in its tree- 
characters. Thus, the trees are late in coming in bearing; are not very 
vigorous; are somewhat tender to cold; and do not resist blight well. The 
variety has little value for commercial places, but if the trees can be obtained, 
is well worth planting in the home orchard. 
This pear is a chance seedling found by M. Maurier near Angers, 
Maine-et-Loire, France, nearly a century ago. It was propagated by M. 
Flon, a nurseryman of Angers and fruited first in 1839. In England and 
America the variety has been chiefly known as Duchesse d’Orléans, but 
many French horticulturists have used the name Saint-Nicolas. The 
variety was added to the fruit-catalog list of the American Pomological 
Society in 1862, but was dropped from the list in 1871. 
