
          II

"Dear Sir:- The Seckle Pear, eighteen plants of which I have
forwarded to the Horticultural Society, is so named from Mr. Seckle
of Philadelphia, who has the credit of having first cultivated
it in the vicinity of that city. It is generally considered to be
a native fruit of this country, accidentally produced from seed sown
by Mr. Seckle; and the original tree is said to be still standing on
the estate of that gentleman. An account, however, essentially different 
from this, has been lately communicated to me by my friend
Judge Wallace, of Burlington, to whom I recently paid a visit. He
stated to me, on the authority of a correspondent in Philadelphia,
that the pear was grown in that neighborhood sixty years ago, by a
person named Jacob Weiss, who obtained that tree with many others at
a settlement of Swedes, which was established near Philadelphia, where
Mr. Weiss built a house. The judge suggested the probability of Mr.
Weiss and the father or grandfather of Mr, Seckle having been intimate,
as both families were Germans of that rank in society which
might be likely to lead, to such an acquaintance. The conjecture,
therefore, is, that under such circumstances, Mr. Seokle’s family
obtained grafts from Mr. Weiss' tree.

"Mr. Coxe, in his View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees in
America, (an interesting volume which I have forwarded to the society.)
after assigning the same origin, as I have stated in the
beginning of this letter, describes the fruit thus: "The form and
appearance vary with its aspect, age and cultivation; the size generally
is small, the form regular, round at the blossom end, diminishing 
with a gentle swell towards the stem, which is rather short
and thick; the skin is sometimes yellow, with a bright red cheek
and smooth, at other times a perfect russet without any blush. The
flesh is melting, juicy, and most exquisitely and delicately flavored,
The time of ripening is from the end of August to the middle of
October.  The tree is singularly vigorous and beautiful, of great
regularity of growth, and richness of foliage, very hardy and possessing 
all the characteristics of a new variety. Neither Rozier or De
La Quintinye among the French, nor Miller nor Forsyth among the
English writers, describe such a pear as the Seckle; nor have I
found one among the intelligent French Gentlemen in our country
who has any knowledge of it in his own." I may add to the above,
that the fruit is admitted by all to be one of the most exquisitely 
and highly flavored we posses. Its flavor is very peculiar,
having a factitious, aromatic perfume, rather than the natural
odor or taste of fruits. The late General Moreau informed me
that he had never tasted this fruit in France, the country in which,
of all others, the finest pears are cultivated. That I may make
this description as complete as possible, I enclose a very correct
drawing of the pear, which I have obtained from Mr. Coxe, executed
        