CHAPTER V. 



THE PEAR. 



The pear, like the apple, is indigenous to most 

 parts of Europe, and is known botanically as 

 Pyrus communis Wild. As a fruit-bearing tree, 

 it stands next in popularity to the apple ; and 

 although less valued for culinary purposes, and 

 also for the press, it is much more esteemed for 

 the dessert ; and in consequence of the im- 

 provements brought about in modern times, it 

 now ranks as the most valuable of all our hardy 

 fruit-bearing trees, continuing in perfection 

 throughout most of the year ; and being more 

 easy of digestion than the apple, it may be eaten 

 with safety by invalids, when the apple cannot. 

 As a press-fruit, it is valued in the manufacture of 

 perry, by many preferred to cider, and by some 

 (ourselves amongst the number) considered 

 superior to much of the trash sold at enormous 

 prices, under the name of Rhenish wines. The 

 pear is met with in highest perfection in climates 

 superior to Britain, and hence the fruit produced 

 in the north of Italy, France, and the Channel 

 Islands, ranks higher than that grown in our 

 best gardens, even against walls. The chau- 

 montelles, bergamots, and beurres rank high, 

 and of these, excellent varieties have been long 

 in cultivation. An extraordinary impetus was 

 given to the improvement of this fruit about the 

 beginning of the present century ; and, with very 

 few exceptions, it would matter little were all 

 of a preceding age swept from our. fruit cata- 

 logues. To the cultivators in Belgium are we 

 mainly indebted for most of our finest varieties ; 

 and this will be understood when we state 

 that two eminent amateur cultivators, whose 

 friendship we had the pleasure to enjoy, fruited 

 no less than eight thousand varieties, originated 

 from seed, in the course of a very few years. 

 These were the Abb6 Duquesne of Mons, and 

 Professor Van Mons of Brussels. Van Mons alone 

 raised eighty thousand seedling pears, and spent 

 the greater part of his life in carrying out this his 

 favourite study. Above seven hundred kinds 

 of pears have been collected and proved in the 

 garden of the Horticultural Society of London 

 (vide descriptive catalogue of fruits published by 

 that Society). These gentlemen procured by this 

 means several hundred varieties of superior 

 merit, the most of which are in cultivation in 

 the Netherlands, and many of them in our Brit- 

 ish gardens, ranking amongst our finest fruits. 

 The pear, historically speaking, is not so ancient 



as the apple. At what period it became amelio- 

 rated, or removed from its wilding state, we 

 know not. It is more than probable that this, 

 as in the case of the apple, arose from accident. 

 In regard to longevity and hardihood it is greatly 

 superior to the apple ; and it is not improbable 

 but that there are trees still existing, and in a 

 fruitful condition, whose age must be computed 

 by centuries. The Bomans cultivated thirty-six 

 varieties in the days of Pliny; and in this 

 country, so early as the time of Parkinson, we 

 were in possession of sixty-four sorts. Our pre- 

 sent nursery catalogues enumerate nearly four 

 hundred, while those of the Continent greatly 

 exceed this number. From the oldest trees in 

 Scotland, taking their fruit as a criterion of 

 merit, it will appear that little advance had been 

 made in this country; and that, notwithstanding 

 our early political intercourse with France, few 

 even of their then good pears had been intro- 

 duced ; and until within the last thirty or forty 

 years we had few pears possessing the most 

 moderate qualities. The pear tree is not only 

 hardier than the apple, but will succeed in soils 

 where the latter will not ; but, again, it requires 

 a much more genial climate to bring its fruit to 

 perfection. The history of the cultivated pear is 

 involved in great obscurity. That it originated 

 in milder climates than even those of France and 

 Belgium is highly probable. It was at an early 

 period common in Syria, Egypt, and Greece ; 

 and from the latter country was imported into 

 Italy, from whence it would spread into France, 

 Germany, and ultimately to Britain. It is rea- 

 sonable however to suppose, that, as the tree in 

 its wild state existed here, some varieties, pos- 

 sessing greater merits than the original type, 

 arose naturally ; but that the better sorts were in- 

 troduced from Italy in monastic times is equally 

 probable. Theophrastus and Virgil speak of the 

 productiveness of old pear-trees, which evidently 

 shows that the tree had even then been long in 

 cultivation. Pliny, in his fifteenth book, ob- 

 serves, " of all pears, the Costumine is the most 

 delicate and agreeable; the Falerian, esteemed 

 for its juice; and the Tibernian, because it was 

 preferred by the Emperor Tiberius." But even 

 these could bear no comparison with those of 

 modern times ; for the same authority says, 

 " All pears whatsoever are but a heavy meat, 

 unless they are well boiled or baked." The 



