December 9, 1880. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE 
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tOMING EVENTS'W 
9th 
Th 
10 th 
F 
11th 
S 
12 th 
Sun 
13th 
M 
14th 
Tu 
15 th 
W 
Royal Society at 4.30 P.M. 
Quekett Club at 8 P.H. 
3rd Sunday in Advent. 
Royal Horticultural Society, Fruit and Floral Committees at 
[11 A.M. 
PEARS. 
ROM the peculiar results of the last four or five 
‘ /Jn years wall trees would appear to have become 
^G quite indispensable to ensure a crop of Pears. 
Year after year the pyramids and espaliers 
blossom freely, but spring frosts and cutting 
winds destroy the flowers, so that without the 
wall trees a supply of good fruit cannot be relied 
on. But the wall trees seldom fail to afford a fair 
y quantity of fruit, and this year the crop was abundant" 
' The trees are still young, hardly any of them having 
yet fully covered the allotted area of wall space, yet most 
of the palmette venders on west and north aspects had good 
crops, and the diagonal cordons upon an east wall were with 
few exceptions crowded with fruit. The wall of palmette 
venders is a fine sight, for the trees are of uniform size and 
form, the lower branches are fast approaching the top of the 
wall, and the spurs are yearly becoming more fruitful. Yet 
the cordons are much preferable, beginning to bear fruit so 
soon after planting, that much of it has frequently to be 
picked off for the first year or two to avoid damage to the 
trees. They are easier to manage and may be planted against 
any space of wall or building, even one or two trees being 
useful, for a single cordon w T hen fully grown will afford several 
dishes of fruit, and it only requires a strip of wall 18 inches 
wide. If you can afford space for a dozen or two you have 
only to make as many marks as you have trees, from top to 
bottom of the wall at an angle of 45°, and 18 inches apart, 
then prepare the soil, plant the trees—one to each mark, up 
which you must train the stem. Can anything be more simple? 
I can add that certainly nothing can be more useful. There 
stand the huge pyramids, each of them large enough to bear 
a bushel of fruit, and yet the crop is lost year after year, 
while the little cordons upon a wall facing due east go steadily 
on year by year bearing fruit, which becomes finer and more 
abundant as the trees gain size. Many a pleasant and profitable 
hour have I spent this year along this wall of sixty cordons ; 
nor did the pleasure end with the gathering of the fruit, for 
subsequently in the fruit room its time of ripening, compara¬ 
tive value when ripe, and keeping properties have all been 
watched and noticed, and the season is now sufficiently ad¬ 
vanced to enable me to submit a list of some of them for the 
information and guidance of your readers. First come the 
summer Pears, of which there were four varieties ripe in 
August, the first being 
Summer Doyenne, better known to many fruit-growers as 
Doyenne d’Ete. The first dish of fruit was ripe on August the 
AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 521 
3rd, and it continued to afford a supply till the 19th. This was 
managed by first gathering the fruit at the top of the cordon, 
where it is always ready first, and the ripening process con¬ 
tinues with singular regularity downwards to the bottom. The 
fruit is small but handsome and highly coloured, sweet and 
juicy but not rich. 
Citron des Cannes. —This was two days later than Summer 
Doyenne, to which it is very similar in flavour. Its larger 
fruit spoils quickly, but I had a few dishes of it, which proved 
very useful. 
Beurre Giffard. —This came in time to continue the supply, 
the first dish being ripe on August the 19th. Its very handsome 
yellow rosy-cheeked fruit has a fine flavour, and is very juicy 
and sweet. 1 value it highly, regarding it as the first really 
good Pear, but like other early varieties its season is some¬ 
what brief, this year lasting only twelve days. 
Jargonelle. —The first dish of this delicious old favourite 
was ripe on August the 21st, and the supply continued for a 
fortnight. 
Summer Beurre d’Aremberg. —A fine and abundant crop, the 
first of which was ready for use on August the 30th. I find the 
following note of it in my fruit book, written after tasting the 
fruit this year. “ Delicious ! very juicy, sweet, melting, with a 
brisk refreshing acidity. A most valuable variety, forming an 
admirable succession to Jargonelle." There was a gcod supply 
of it for a fortnight, which may be named as the general 
duration of early Pears. 
Desire Cornells. — This ripened a few days earlier than 
Williams’ Bon Chretien. Its fruit is equally fine, and it pos¬ 
sesses all the good qualities of a first-class Pear. It first bore 
fruit here on a pyramid some five or six years ago, and was so 
good as to induce me to assign it a place amongst the most 
select varieties. The growth is so robust that it will probably 
prove a useful hardy variety generally. 
Williams’ Bon Chretien. —Not ripe till September the 12th. 
Fruit large and excellent. A palmette verrier on a north 
aspect kept up the supply of fruit till October. 
Colmar d’Ete. —This fruited here for the first time this year, 
and the first dish of it was ready for table September the 18th. 
It has a pleasant musky aroma, and is brisk, sweet, and juicy. 
Beurre de VAssomption .—This also fruited for the first time, 
and I was much disappointed with it. The large fruit was 
coarse, gritty, tolerably sweet and juicy, with very little aroma. 
Quite a second-rate variety in this soil. 
Beurre d’Amanlis. —Fine large handsome fruit, still of a 
pale green hue when ripe. Delicious, very juicy, buttery, 
sweet with a pleasant acidity. First dish ripe on September 
the 30th. 
Madame Treyve. —As remarkable for its large size, fine 
form, and high colour, as it is for sweetness, juiciness, and 
aroma. It was not ripe till the first week in October, and did 
not keep good longer than a week. This fruit was from a 
cordon. Some other fruit off; a pyramid was equally large, but 
was deficient in colour and of so poor a flavour as only to be 
useful for stewing. 
Doyenne Boussoch. —Very large and remarkably handsome 
fruit, which was ripe on October the 1st. It was tolerably 
sweet and juicy, but quite second-rate ; nor was its poor flavour 
peculiar to the year, for after fruiting it for several seasons 
both against a wall and out in the open garden, I am sorry to 
record its invariable inferiority. 
No. 24.—Yon. I., Third Series. 
No. 1680 .—Yce. LXIY., Old Series- 
