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BOTANICAL IADEX. 
M/V7-CO-CH/CAG8 
SOME NEW OB LITTLE KNOWN PEARS. 
BY K. Y. TEAS, DUNREITH, INI). 
HE Quince lias been highly esteemed for more than two thousand years, both 
as an ornamental tree, and for the surpassing excellence of the fruit. Colu- 
mella says, ‘‘Quinces not only yield pleasure, but health;” and Pliny gives 
directions for preserving quinces by plunging them into boiling honey, a 
practice in use with this and other fruits in Italy at the present day. But 
quinces have never been abundant in the central and northern portions of 
the United States, because the plants are often injured by our cold winters, and are 
also liable to destruction from the attacks of borers in the trunk of the tree, and by 
twig blight ; so that an abundant supply of this delightful fruit is not likely to be had. 
F have long believed that a satisfactory substitute for quinces may be found in 
some varieties of the Pear, which though not of the best quality as dessert fruits, are 
nevertheless unsurpassed for canning and preserving; varieties uniting these desi- 
rable qualities with great productiveness, and almost absolute hardiness and health 
of tree. In pursuance of this subject, my attention has been called from time to time 
to a race or races of pears not at all new, but which have not received the attention 
