THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN PEAE SUPPLY. 65 



f CHAPTEE XI. 



j THE SUMMER AND AUTUMN PEAR SUPPLY. 



!j In the choice of kinds, most private growers are 

 I anxious to keep up a supply for family use throughout 

 J' the season, having one or more summer sorts, according 

 J to the ground at command ; a few first-class varieties 

 ' of autumn-ripening pears, generally so much finer in 

 J flavour; and some to come in from the middle of winter 

 jj to the end of spring, often better in all points than 

 I any, provided really good and productive trees can be 

 obtained. 



j! The Jargonelle is perhaps the best early pear for a 

 jj garden which is small, or of only moderate dimensions, 

 I as it is a plentiful bearer, will keep better than most 



early pears, and is of a good size, juicy, melting, and 

 u finer in flavour than any equally early. It will flourish 

 j ill almost any garden, and on a wall it will produce as 

 ■ far north as pears will grow. It is said to do best on 



the pear stock, and to be gritty at the core if grown 

 ^ on the quince, and it makes fine, large, well-grown 



trees, but Mr. Elvers recommends it for bush culture 



also. 



i One fine, productive Jargonelle pear tree gives no bad 

 supply for a family, and there is less objection to its 

 growing tall than in the case of kinds which have to 

 bear autumn wind-storms, for it ripens by the middle 

 of August, and is done with by about the end. It is 

 the Grosse ciiisse Madame of French growers. The 

 fruit is greenish-yellow, with sometimes a tinge of 

 brownish-red on the sunny side, rather pyramidal, long 

 aud large, with an open eye, long segments of calyx, 

 and a longish stalk, obliquely inserted. If some are 

 gathered before they are ripe, and stored in a cool 

 fruit-room, they will ripen more gradually and keep 

 iouger than those left to ripen on the tree. 



