^2 



PEARS. 



brought over by Julius Caesar and formed part of ' the furni- 

 ture' of the gardens of Alcinous. According to Manger, it 

 is of the highest antiquity, and was without doubt in former 

 times the only one to which they gave the name, which is also 

 now applied to other similar pears. This name, he says, is not 

 derived from Bergamo in Italy, as many have believed, but 

 from the Turkish words heg or hey., a prince, and armoud, a 

 pear. He also shows, that this princely pear was formerly 

 written not Bergamotte, but Begarmoud, by referring to Gre- 

 en's Niederlandischen Gartner. As its name is Turkish, he 

 infers that this sort must have come from Turkey, and conse- 

 quently originated in a warmer climate. With us (in Eng- 

 land) this pear ripens remarkably well on standards as far 

 north as Yorkshire, and is in eating in October, decaying soon 

 after ; but both the old and young wood of the Bergamotte 

 d'automne of the French, canker very much in this soil and 

 climate. 



" The wood is yellowish brown, not much spotted ; leaves 

 middle-sized, oval, wavy, generally entire ; stipules long, 

 linear ; the leaves of the fruit spurs ovate, slightly cordate, on 

 long and slender petioles ; flowers middle-sized ; petals round- 

 ish, ovate, overlapping each other ; fruit small, approaching 

 the middle size, depressed, globular, hollowed at the eye and 

 stalk — the latter is short and thick; eye open, in a regularly 

 formed shallow depression ; skin a little rough with russet, 

 reddish next the sun fading into brownish green ; flesh whitish, 

 a little gritty next the core, very juicy, sugary, and rich." 



I may here add, that the trees of this kind which I have in 

 my collection are remarkable for their vigour and thriftiness 

 of growth, in which points few varieties equal this, and the 

 existence of which in so remarkable a degree in thisij^r^ aged 

 variety^ serves for another proof against the fallacious doc- 

 trine of exhaustion. 



The description given by Mr. Coxe of the Autumn Berga- 

 mot, seems rather to refer to the French variety, as he states 

 that the tree is not very vigorous, and in fact his descriptions of 

 French pears generally follow those given by Rozier. 



