191 
of September; this year, from the same tree, they were not 
ripe until the 7th of October. I have trees on all aspects 
except the north ; from the west it is ripe first, second from the 
east, third from standards on a dry soil, fourth from a south 
wall, and last from standards on a very strong soil in a wet 
situation. What can be the reason of its keeping better from 
a south aspect than from any other ? Is it because the tree 
being exposed to the full solar influence, the juices are more 
highly elaborated, and consequently the fruit being formed of 
superior material, is better able to resist decay, on the principle 
that strong wine is not so liable to turn acid as weak? I 
should like to have the opinion of some of your scientific con- 
tributors on this subject. The Seckle is an .\meiican pear of 
first-rate quality.” (The origin of the introduction of this pear 
to notice shall be mentioned at the end of this article.) “Marie 
Louise is one of the best, if not the very best, pears in cultiva- 
tion. It produces its fruit on the points of the young shoots, 
and therefore in pruning it must not be spurred in like the 
generality of pears, but only have the strong shoots thinned out. 
On a wall it should be treated the same as a peach, that is, 
have young wood laid in every season. The Crassane is a 
good but rather tender |)ear ; with me it is generally ripe about 
the middle of October, from a west aspect ; but fruit from 
branches of the same tree trained perpendicularly down the 
east side of the wall do not ripen until Decembei', and I have 
some now from a south wall which will keej) a fortnight or three 
weeks longer. Winter Nelis, or, as it is called in this part, 
“Curtis’s Royal,” is a small pear of first-rate quality. It bears 
very freely as a standard, and this year the fruit is much superior 
to that from a wall. Last year, Ifom standards, the fruit was 
not ripe until January; this year, from the same tree, it was 
ri|)e early in November, and is now done, but fruit from a west 
wall is just ready for table. How are we to account for this 
discrepancy in ripening? ITacon’s Incomparable, Napoleon, 
Glout Morceau, and Passe Colmar, are all excellent at this 
season. Napoleon and Passe Colmar are the only two pears 
in this collection that are improved in quality by being gi-own 
on a wall. This, I should think, arises from their containing 
a great quantity of juice, which by being exposed to the supe- 
rior heat of a wall, a great portion of the aqueous matter is 
196 AUCTAEICM. 
