By Mr. Archibald Gorrie. 



301 



the land I did not think of troubling you with specimens, 

 knowing that I had sent many that had acquired " a local 

 habitation and a name," which will in the South be doubtless 

 consigned to oblivion. The numerous varieties of inferior 

 quality which I have met with convince me that during the 

 times of popery, fruit trees were raised from seed ; and if I 

 am right in this conjecture, then most likely many of the 

 specimens which I have sent you are genuine Scotch Pears, 

 if not, some of them may be found in England though 

 under other names. Where no more correct data exist than 

 an old tree being found exclusively in a certain orchard, it 

 would be little short of presumption to fix on that orchard 

 as the place of its origin. I must therefore beg to be under- 

 stood as advancing nothing positive on that head, nor do I 

 think that such antiquarian research could be attended with 

 much practical utility. I have attended more to obtaining 

 the local names whereby the different varieties are generally 

 known in the orchard or market ; and here I had some diffi- 

 culty to encounter, for amongst orchardmen the synonyms are 

 endless ; I have therefore adopted the most generally popular 

 name, and rejected all synonyms as only calculated to mislead. 

 There is only one original Benvie Pear, viz. the Early Yellow 

 Benvie, but the Autumn Benvie being something like this 

 favourite Pear in shape, has obtained the honor to be called 

 by its name, although no way like the true Benvie in the habit 

 of the tree or quality of the fruit . Whenever I attempted to 

 reason with fruit dealers on the absurdity of this nomencla- 

 ture, they uniformly told me that they passed in the market 

 for Benvies, and I had no resource left but to put up with 

 names which usage had sanctioned. 



