()X PEARS. 



339 



The slow-growing Yew, indigenous to England, and of which 

 we are so proud (as Mr. W. Paul has proved), is worthy of another 

 lecture, which that gentleman can, and will, I hope, give on a 

 future day. The timber is slightly resinous and very durable. 

 All the varieties are worth planting ; T. baccata, T. b. fructu 

 luteo, T. b. elegantissima, T. fastigiata, and T. Dovastoni being 

 specially valuable. 



The Cephalotaxus also are invaluable for ornament, but the 

 Torreyas, although T. myristica stands well with me, do not 

 make much headway in this country. Prumnopitys elegans is 

 a hardy gem. The Podocarps, like the Torreyas, are highly 

 interesting to botanists, but too tender to become prominent in 

 England. 



ON PEARS. 

 By Mr. W. Wildsmith, F.R.H.S. 



[Read October 22nd.] 



I am quite unable to say "No " to any request tendered me that 

 seems likely to aid in any degree the furtherance of what I am 

 sure all here have at heart — namely, that of extended fruit 

 cultivation — and, therefore, on the receipt of a note from our 

 Secretary, Mr. Wilks, that I would on this date give a paper on 

 " Pears," I complied without hesitancy, and this is the explanation 

 of the position I am in this afternoon. I half thought at one time 

 that I would christen my paper, " Pears for the Million," but on 

 second thought, and with visions before my eyes of the cold, wet, 

 and sunless season of last year, and the caterpillar plague of this, 

 and consequent partial failure of the Pear crop, I thought it w T ise 

 to stick to the one word Pears, and thus have licence to ramble 

 at will, so long as I occasionally brought in the word Pears. 

 Please do not be frightened ; I am by nature too methodical to 

 be able to accomplish my task in any such random fashion, and 

 I therefore shall treat my subject under the following heads or 

 divisions. Of course, presuming that everybody here knows 

 that I am simply a practical gardener; " a scientific gardener," 



