232 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
Tree large, vigorous, upright, scraggly, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches 
stocky, smooth, light-brown overlaid with gray scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets 
thick, curved, long, with long internodes, brownish-red, streaked with gray scarf-skin, 
glossy, smooth, glabrous, sprinkled with conspicuous, raised lenticels. 
Leaf-buds large, long, conical, pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with very prominent 
shoulders. Leaves 3} in. long, 1§ in. wide, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; 
petiole 23 in. long. Flower-buds conical, plump, free, singly on spurs variable in length; 
flowers very late, 1} in. across, in dense clusters, average 5 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. 
long, thick, thinly pubescent. 
Fruit ripe in December and January; large, 3 in. long, 23 in. wide, oblong-obovate- 
pytiform; stem 1 in. long, thick, curved; cavity narrow, shallow, smooth, oblique; calyx 
small, nearly closed; lobes short; basin small, shallow, irregular; skin uneven in surface: 
color yellow, splashed with russet and often blushed on the exposed cheek with bright red; 
dots numerous, small, brownish-russet; flesh yellowish-white, fine-grained, tender, juicy, 
sweet, pleasant-flavored; quality good to very good. Core small, nearly closed, with 
meeting core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds large, long, plump, obtuse. 
WINTER NELIS 
1. Pom. Mag. 3:126, Pl. 1830. 2. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 409. 1831. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 199. 
1832. 4. Mag. Hort. 10:127. 1844. 5. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 450, fig. 208. 1845. 6. Gard. Chron. 
20, fig. 1845. 7. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr.Gr. 51. 1848. 8. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:15, Pl. 1851. 9. Downing Fr. 
Trees Am. 884, fig. 1869. 10. Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 339. 1881. 11. Lauche Deut. Pom. I: No. 49, Pl. 
49. 1882. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 667. 1884. 13. Mathien Nom. Pom. 301. 1889. 14. Deut. Obstsorten 
5: Pt. 15, Pl. 1909. 
La Bonne Malinoise. 15. Trans, Lond. Hort. Soc. 4:276. 1822. 16. Ibid. §:408. 1824. 
Thouin. 17. Dochnahl Fuhr. Obstkunde 2:23. 1856. 
Bonne de Malines. 18. Ann. Pom, Belge 6:77, Pl. 1858. 19. Pom. France 2: No. 53, Pl. 53. 
1864. 20. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:484, figs. 1867. 21. Guide Prat. 60, 252. 1876. 22. Cat. Cong. Pom. 
France 202. 1906. 
Nélis d’Hiver. 23. Mas Le Verger 1:29 bis, fig. 21. 1866-73. 
Winter Nelis is the standard winter pear in the United States. Both 
fruits and trees possess several serious faults, but these are outmatched by 
virtues which make the variety preéminent in its season. The fruits are 
small and are often so poorly colored as to be unattractive, but well grown 
they are sufficiently large for dessert fruits and are very handsome in a 
much-russeted coat and a ruddy cheek. Flesh and flavor are the chief 
assets of the fruits. The flesh is tender, melting, juicy, luscious, with a 
rich, sweet, aromatic flavor — one of the most delectable of all pears. The 
fruits keep, ship, and sell well. The season is from Christmas to March, 
but the pears can be kept until late spring in cold-storage. The trees 
begin badly, for no variety is more difficult to grow well in the nursery. 
They thrive only on standard stocks, refusing to do well on the quince 
unless double worked. In the orchard, the trees are among the unmanage- 
