PLATE XLIV. 
5. FONDANTE DE CUERNE. 
The history of this variety is not given in the ordinary pomological works. 
Description .—Fruit : medium sized, obovate. Skin : pale yellowish green, having the 
appearance of being blanched like the White Doyenne; it is smooth and strewn with very minute 
brown dots, so small as to be hardly visible, and sometimes with a patch of cinnamon-coloured 
russet on the surface. Eye : small and open, slightly depressed. Stalk : about three-quarters 
of an inch long, very stout and fleshy, and inserted in a shallow depression. Flesh : perfectly 
white, half melting, juicy and sweet, with a pleasant flavour and aroma. 
% 
One of the best early Pears, superior in flavour and size to Beurvi Giffard. It ripens at the 
same time, about the third week in August, but it should be gathered before it is ripe, or it quickly 
becomes mealy on the tree. 
The tree is hardy, grows well on the quince stock, and bears well. 
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