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La Double Fleur. u.e. the double-flowering Pear. This 
is fo called, becaufe the flowers have a double range 
of petals or leaves. It is a large fhort Pear ; the ftalk 
is long and ftrait ; the fkin is very fmooth, and of a 
yellowifli colour, but the fide next the fun is common- 
ly of a fine red or purple colour. 1 his is by fome 
efteemed for eating, but it is generally too auftere in 
this country for that purpofe. It is the bell Pear in 
the world for baking or comp offs. It is good from 
February to May. 
77. Pyrus ( Saint Martial ) fativa, fructu brumali ob- 
longo, partim flavefcente, partim purpurafcente. Saint 
Martial. It is alfo called in fome places Poire Ange- 
Jique, i. e. the Angelic Pear ; and in the fouth of 
France, Poire Douce. This Pear is oblong, in fliape 
like the Boncretien, but not fo large, and a little flat- 
ter at the crown •, it has a very long ftalk ; the Ikin is 
fmooth and yellowifli, but on the fide next the lun it 
turns to a purplifh colour ; the flefli is tender and but- 
tery, and the juice is very fweet. This is in eating 
in February and March. 
78. Pyrus {Befi ChaumonteUe ) fativa, fru&u brumali 
oblon go, partim albido, partim purpureo odorato, 
faccharato. La Poire de Chaumontelle , or Befi de Chau- 
montelle , i. e. the JVilding of Chaumontelle. This Pear 
is in fliape fomewhat like the Autumn Beurre, but is 
flatter at the crown ; the (kin is a little rough, of a 
pale green colour, but turns to a purplifh colour next 
the fun ; the fleih is melting; the juice is very rich, 
and a little perfumed. It is in eating from November 
to January, and is efteemed by fome as the belt late 
Pear yet known. 
79. Pyrus ( Carmelite ) fativa, fruclu brumali globofo 
feffili cinereo maculis amplis obfcurioribus confperfo. 
Tourn. Carmelite. This is a middle- fized Pear, of a 
roundifti form •, the fkin is of a gray colour on one 
fide, but is inclining to a red on the other, having 
fome broad fpots of a dark colour all over •, the flefh 
is commonly hard and dry, fo that it is not very much 
efteemed. It is in feafon in March. 
80. Pyrus {Union) fativa, fruClu brumali maximo py- 
ramidato, dilute virente. Fhe Union Pear , otherwife 
called Dr. Uve dale's St. Germain. This is a very large 
long Pear, of a deep green colour, but the fide next 
the fun doth fometimes change to a red as it ripens. 
This is not fit for eating, but bakes very well ; and 
being a great bearer, and a very large fruit, deferves 
a place in every good collection. It is in feafon from 
Chriftmas to April. 
There are many other forts of Pears, which are ftill 
continued in fome old gardens; but as thofe here 
mentioned are the beft forts known at prelent, it 
would be needlefs to enumerate a great quantity of 
ordinary fruit ; fince every one who intends to plant 
fruit-trees, would rather chufe thofe which are the | 
moft valued, the expence and trouble being the fame 
for a bad fort of fruit as a good one. Indeed I have 
inferted many more than are really worth planting, 
in order to pleafe fuch who are fond of great varie- 
ty ; but whoever hath a mind to make choice of fuch 
only as are good, may eafily diftinguilh them, by at- 
tending to the account given of each fort, and here- 
by every perfon is at liberty to pleafe himfelf ; for it 
is not every one who prefers a Beurre Pear, though 
that is generally efteemed the very beft in its proper 
feafon ; there are fome who admire the Meffire Jean, 
for the firmnefs of its fleih, which to others is a great 
objection againft it ; fo that as fome efteem the break- 
ing, and others the melting Pears, I have diftinguiih- 
ed them by their defcriptions in fuch a manner, that 
every one may make choice of the kinds of fruit 
which are agreeable to their palates ; and the different 
feafons in which each kind is in eating, being exhi- 
bited (allowing a little for the difference of feafons, 
which are earlier fome years than others) it is not very 
difficult for a perfon to make a collection of good 
Pears to fucceed each other throughout the feafon of 
thefe fruits, both for eating and baking. 
The time of each fruit ripening, as here fet down, is 
taken at a medium for feven years, and in the neigh- 
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bourhood of London, where all forts of fruit gene- 
rally ripen a fortnight or three weeks earlier than in 
almoft any part of England ; and it is very obvious 
to every perfon who will attend to the culture of fruit- 
trees, that their time of ripening is accelerated by 
long cultivation ; for many of the forts of Pears, 
which fome years paft rarely became ripe in England, 
unlefs they grew againft the beft afpected walls, are 
now found to ripen extremely well on efpaliers and 
dwarfs ; and thofe Pears which feldom were in eating 
till January, are ripe two months earlier. There is 
alfo a very great difference in their rime of ripening 
in different feafons, for I have known the fruit of a 
Pear-tree in one year all ripe and gone by the middle 
of Odober, and the very next year the fruit of the 
fame tree has not been fit to eat till the end of Decem- 
ber, fo that allowance fhould be made for thefe acci- 
dents. The Befi de Chaumontelle Pear, about forty 
years paft, was feldom fit to eat before February, and 
has continued good till the middle of April, but now 
this Pear is commonly ripe in November ; and when 
it is planted on a warm foil, and againft a good af- 
peded wall, it is in eating the middle or end of Oc- 
tober. This forwarding of the feveral kinds of Pears, 
may be in' fome meafure owing to the flocks upon 
which they are grafted ; for if they are grafted upon, 
early fummer Pear flocks, they will ripen much earlier 
than when they are upon hard winter Pear flocks % 
and if fome of the very foft melting Pears were grafted 
upon fuch flocks as are raifed from the moft auftere 
fruit, fuch as are never fit to eat, and of which the 
beft perry is made, it would improve thofe fruits, and 
continue them much longer good ; or if the common 
free flocks were firft grafted with any of thefe hard 
winter Pears, and when they have grown a year, 
then to graft or bud thefe foft melting Pears upon 
them, it would have the fame effed ; but the Pears 
fo raifed will require a year’s more growth in thenur- 
fery, and confequently cannot be fold at the fame 
price as thofe which are raifed in the common me- 
thod, thefe requiring to be twice budded or grafted, 
fo that there is double labour, befide Handing a full 
year longer ; but this difference in the firft expence 
of the trees, is not worth regarding by any perfon who 
is defirous to have good fruit ; for the fetting out in 
a right way is that which every one fhould be the 
moft careful of, fince by miftaking at firft, much 
time is loft, and an after expence of new trees often 
attends it. 
Another caufe of fruits ripening earlier now than they 
formerly did, may be from the length of time they 
have been cultivated ; for it is very certain, that moft 
forts of plants have been greatly forwarded and im- 
proved by culture, within the fpace of thirty or forty- 
years, as may be known from the feveral forts of ef- 
culent plants, which are cultivated in the kitchen- 
gardens, and of which forts there are many which are 
annually improving : and if we look back to the beft 
French authors who have written on the lubjeCt of 
fruit-trees, we fhall find, that the times of ripening 
of many forts of Pears are put down a month or fix 
weeks later about fifty or fixty years ago, than they 
are now found to ripen about Paris ;. and here about 
London it is much the fame, for I cannot find they 
are the leaft forwarder in the times of their ripening 
at Paris than at London. < 
The ripening of thefe fruits may alfo be accelerated 
by the method of pruning and managing thefe trees, 
which are greatly improved within the fpace of a few 
years paft ; for if we look into the directions which 
are given by the beft writers on this fubjeCt, we fhall 
foon difcover how little they knew fifty years ago, of 
the true method of pruning and managing moft forts 
of fruit-trees, fcarce one of them making any diffe- 
rence in the management of the different kinds of fruit* 
Pears are propagated by budding or grafting them 
upon flocks of their own kind, which are commonly 
called free flocks, or upon Quince flocks, ' or White- 
thorn, upon all which thefe fruits will take ; but the 
latter fort of flock is now feldom yfed, becaufe they 
never 
