THE PEAR 135 
occupies a higher relative position—ze, is farther 
from the stalk—in the Pear than in the Apple. The 
outline of the fruit, tapering gradually, as it generally 
does, into its stalk, though very characteristic of the 
Pear, is no more absolutely so than is the depression 
into which the stalk is usually inserted in Apples. 
A more universal distinction in structure between 
the fruits of the two species is the presence in that 
of the Pear only of the well known “grittiness,” 
due to small clusters of cells, thickened with woody 
deposits in their walls, which are scattered through- 
out the fleshy part of the fruit. Few Wild Pears 
produce fruits one quarter the size of the common 
cultivated varieties; nor does their texture or flavour 
render them fit to eat. 
In some favourable autumns the Pear exhibits 
beauties that perhaps surpass those of the pure white 
and virginal green of spring, its leaves turning to a 
vivid crimson. Though the tough and indestructible 
character of its fallen leaves may render the Pear 
undesirable on a lawn, it well deserves for its beauty 
alone a place in the cottage-garden, the farm-close, 
or the shrubbery. Few more delightful surprises 
await us in our rural walks than to come upon a 
well-grown Pear-tree standing apart in a small 
woodland clearing, whether it be decked in the snow 
of spring or the crimson of autumn. 
Of our three wild varieties, none of which can be 
termed common, P. Pyraster Borkh. has “acuminate” 
leaves, which, though downy beneath when young, 
become smooth, and a typically Pear-shaped or “ tur- 
binate” fruit, tapering gradually into its stalk; P. 
