522 JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. t December 9> isso. 
Jersey Gratioli. —This, too, was ripe on October the 1st ; and 
although decidedly superior to Doyenne Boussoch in flavour, I 
by no means regard it as an indispensable variety. 
Fondante d’Automne. —Once more I gladly record the in¬ 
variable excellence of this delicious Pear. There is none 
equal to it in its season, which begins about the last week in 
September and continues till the middle of October. It is 
tender, juicy, extremely melting, very sweet, and has a rich 
flavour with a delicious aroma. It is very hardy and prolific, 
bearing fruit early, and continuing fruitful. 
Jalousie de Fontenay. —Ripe the flrst week in October. 
Pleasantly sweet and juicy, but quite second-rate. 
Comte de Lamy. —This forms an admirable succession to 
Fondante d'Automne and is equally good. The fruit is not 
large, but its singular richness well atones for this. The first 
dish of it was ripe on October the 15th. I have often had 
good crops of excellent fruit upon a pyramid ; this year only 
the cordon had a crop. 
Thompson’s. —This was ripe on October the 14th, and con¬ 
tinued good for three weeks. It is a most excellent Pear, 
remarkably juicy and rich. 
Baronnc de Hello. —The fruit was very handsome, quite 
covered with an orange russet. It was sweet, juicy, and of 
pleasant flavour, but not rich. Ripe the second week in 
October, and was good till November. 
Doyenne du Cornice. —An abundant crop of its fine large 
fruit both upon a cordon and a palmette verrier, but there was 
none upon the pyramids. It was ripe on October the 9th, and 
was as usual excellent. It is one of our very best Pears, and 
should never be omitted from the choicest selection. 
Beurre Superfin. —The fruit was very large with singularly 
long stalks. It was ripe the third week in October, and proved 
very juicy, sugary, rich, and delicious. A fine Pear of great 
excellence. 
Pitmaston Duchess. —The tempting description published of 
this Pear induced me to plant several trees of it, but I regret 
to say it has not answered my expectations. The magnificent 
fruit was ripe the middle of October, but was so acid as to be 
decidedly unpalatable. 
Beurre Bachelier. —Fine large fruit of pleasant flavour, sweet 
but not rich. It was ripe on November the 16th. Fruit off 
the same cordon was not ripe till February the 5th in 1875. 
Napoleon. —Ripe the second week in November. Very juicy, 
sweet, and rich. An excellent Pear 
General Todtleben. —A remarkable Pear with very large and 
long fruit, some of the stalks, too, being quite 3 inches long. 
It was ripe early in November, but I did not taste it till 
November the 15th, and to my surprise found I was too late, 
every fruit then being overripe ; but one or two still retained 
much richness, and its peculiar perfume and the rosy-tinged 
flesh proved it to be the true variety. 
Danas Ilovey. — There was an abundant crop of this 
delicious little Pear, which was ripe early in November. Very 
rich, juicy, sweet, and with an agreeable musky flavour. 
Passe Colmar.— An excellent Pear of delicious flavour, very 
juicy, sweet, and rich. A fine crop of it, ripe the second week 
in November, and keeping well. 
Beurre Did. —Ripe early in November, of fine flavour but 
not very juicy. A useful old variety, very prolific. 
Huyshe’s Victoria. —Handsome fruit, bright yellow dotted 
with russet spots, and of a dark red on the exposed side. Ripe 
mid-November ; very juicy and buttery, but a little deficient in 
sugar this year. A useful Pear and good cropper. 
Alexandre Lanibre. —Ripe early in November, of fine flavour, 
but not juicy. An inferior variety. 
Alexandre Bivort. —Handsome fruit of medium size, very 
rich, sweet, with a brisk but delicious acidulous flavour, and so 
juicy that the juice drops from it as it is cut or eaten. An 
excellent Pear, ripe the middle of November, and keeps good 
for a long time. 
Marechal de Cour. —Ripe on November the 16th. Fruit 
very large, long, and handsome. Most delicious, juicy, aro¬ 
matic, and rich. A grand Pear, with what is justly termed a 
sprightly flavour. 
Emile d’Heyst. —A delicious Pear, very rich, juicy, sweet, 
and highly perfumed. The first dish of an abundant crop 
of its very handsome fruit was ripe the second week in 
November. 
Beurre d’Aremberg .—This is another of our best winter 
Pears, which this year was ripe by the middle of November. 
The fruit is of medium size, it keeps well, and is very juicy 
and richly flavoured. 
Deux Sceurs .—The long large fruit is not handsome, but it 
is very good, of fine flavour, melting and butterjq and very 
sweet. It was ripe on November the 15th, and was only good 
for a fortnight. 
Josephine de Malines .— This had moderately large fruit, 
which was ripe in the second week of November. It has a 
delicious delicate flavour, and what Dr. Hogg has aptly termed 
a “ high rose-water aroma." Its yellow flesh tinged with red 
also helps to render it a distinct Pear easy of recognition. 
Glou Morgeau .—I tasted the first fruit of this on November 
29th. It was then so far ripe as to yield to pressure, but would 
evidently be better if kept for another week or two. The 
flavour was brisk and pleasingly acidulous yet rich, and it was 
very juicy. A most valuable Pear, which has come slowly 
into fruiting, but its numerous blossom buds give pleasing 
promise of an abundant crop next season. 
The foregoing brief descriptive notes maybe taken as a safe 
guide for light soils. Experienced pomologists will doubtless 
observe the remarkable earliness of many Pears that is so 
peculiar this year. It is not merely a difference of days but 
of weeks and months. I cannot account for it, and can only 
regret that so many of the best Pears are ripe at the same 
time instead of following in succession as in ordinary seasons. 
The list is by no means to be regarded as containing the only 
good varieties, although it contains so many that I at any rate 
have no reason to agree with those who assert that we have 
very few really good Pears. Several well-tried favourites had 
no fruit this year, others are not yet ripe and were therefore 
left out ; but I may usefully add the names of such excellent 
varieties as Comte de Flandre, Millot de Nancy, Jewess, Besi 
Vaet, Marie Louise d’Uccle, Winter Nelis, Nouvelle Fulvie, 
Duchesse d'Orleans, Knight’s Monarch, Urbaniste, Red Doyenne, 
Doyenne Defais, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Madame Millet, 
Easter Beurre, and Beurre Clairgeau, which last as usual had 
an abundant crop of large fruit brilliantly coloured, and so 
good in flavour as to cause it to be highly valued. Let not 
my addendum be regarded as unreliable. I have repeatedly 
fruited all of them, and not one is lightly recommended. To 
owners of small gardens requiring a select dozen I may name 
Beurre Giffard, Summer Beurre dAremberg, Desire Cornells, 
Fondante d'Automne, Comte de Lamy, Doyenne du Comice, 
Dana’s Ilovey, Passe Colmar, Alexandre Bivort, Glou Mor- 
ceau, Josephine de Malines, and Madame Millet. —Edward 
Luckhurst. 
LILIUM LANCIFOLIUM (SPECIOSUM). 
Much has lately been published about Liliums and their being 
grown out of doors with success, as if it were a new discovery. 
I remember gardens, one especially, where in 1844 to 1848 the 
varieties of this species were grown in the borders in masses of a 
dozen bulbs together, and also in rows in the kitchen garden. At 
that time, as old gardeners will remember, bulbs were in great 
demand. Who that has ever had the pleasure of-going round the 
late Mr. Groom’s garden at Clapham can forget the appearance 
of his show house in the early autumn with Liliums, or the large 
bed planted with them in his garden ? Large numbers of fine bulbs 
which were not required by Mr. Groom used to pass into the 
hands of a well-known florist of that day, and the way they were 
managed was as follows. 
In order to increase the stock numbers of scales were carefully 
taken off the outsides of the bulbs, but not to reduce them too 
severely ; these scales were planted in a prepared bed in the kitchen 
garden. The soil was removed a foot deep, and the trench thus 
made was about three-fourths filled with a compost of ordinary 
peat, decomposed cow dung, leaf soil, and sharp sand well mixed. 
On this a thin layer of silver sand was spread, and the Lily scales 
were inserted upright covered with 2 or 3 inches of soil, and a 
temporary frame was placed over them to throw the wet during 
the winter. This was removed in the spring, and in the following 
October a fine lot of young bulbs of various sizes were carefully 
taken out and afterwards planted in rows. The largest and 
plumpest of the bulbs, which had been deprived of their scales, 
