THE PEAR. 



297 



ductiveness increases with its age. Dr. Neile 

 mentions a number of very ancient Pear-trees 

 standing in the neighbourhood of Jedburgh Ab- 

 bey, and in fields which are known to have been 

 formerly the gardens of religious houses in Scot- 

 land which were destroyed at the Reformation. 

 Such trees are, for the most part, in good health, 

 and are abundant bearers ; and, as some of them 

 were probably planted when the abbeys were 

 built, they must be from 500 to 600 years old. 



The most remarkable Pear-tree in England 

 stands on the glebe of the parish of Holme Lacy, 

 in Herefordshire. When the branches of this 

 tree, in its original state, became long and heavy, 

 their extremities drooped till they reached the 

 ground. They then took root ; each branch be- 

 came a new tree, and in its turn produced others 

 in the same way. Eventually it extended itself 

 until it covered more than an acre of ground, and 

 would probably have reached much further if it 

 had been suffered to do so. It is stated in the 

 church register, that, the great natural curiosity, 

 the great Pear-tree upon the glebe, adjoining to 

 the vicarage-house, produced this year (1776), 

 fourteen hogsheads of perry, each hogshead con- 

 taining one hundred gallons." Though now 

 much reduced in size, it is still healthy and vigor- 

 ous, and generally produces from two to five 

 hogsheads. The liquor is not of a good quality, 

 being very strong and heating. An idea of the 

 superior size of this tree, w^hen in its prime, over 

 others of the same kind, may be formed from the 

 fact, that in the same county, an acre of ground 

 is usually planted with thirty trees, which, in a 

 good soil, produce annually, when full grown, 



