PLATE LXIV. 
5. FONDANTE DE MALINES. 
This variety was raised by Major Esperen, at Malines, and first fruited in 1842. 
Description. —Fruit: large, even and handsomely shaped ; obtusely obovate, blunt at the 
stalk. Skin : smooth, of a uniform, deep, golden yellow colour, mottled all over with cinnamon 
coloured russet ; on the side next the sun, it is of a deeper yellow, and spotted with crimson dots. 
Eye : clove-like, set in a pretty deep depression. Stalk : about an inch long, fleshy at the base, and 
inserted in a narrow round cavity. Flesh : white, buttery and melting, juicy, sweet, and with a fine 
perfume. 
A good dessert pear ; ripe in November, and continuing till December. It must, however, 
be watched with care, for it is apt to decay treacherously in the centre. 
1 he tree is very hardy, and vigorous in growth. It bears abundantly as a pyramid, or bush, 
when grafted on the quince stock. 
