a4o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 1 
; Ruralisms ; 
j » TT-^” V'W y r- - -r y v jr ^’«r» 
Pf/fflS FOR NINE MONTHS. 
A SUCCESSION OF THE BEST FROM AUGUST 
TO MAY. 
Price of a Set of Twelve. 
What is the best of the early pears ? 
Which is the earliest of the best ? We 
would name Eliot’s Early first, except 
that our experience has been confined to 
but one tree. This bears annually, 
but the birds have managed to injure 
nearly every pear as it has ripened. The 
size of the pear is about that of Early 
Wilder, but the quality is better, and it 
ripens earlier. We doubt, however, 
whether the tree is as productive. 
Angkll. —It was in the early part of 
August, 1804, that we received from Isaac 
C. Rogers, of Moorestown, N. J., several 
specimens of a pear that he had named 
the Angell. The size was about that of 
Clapp’s Favorite, the color a bright yel- 
lov with a showy crimson spreading 
over about one-third of it. The flesh 
was a little doarse, moderately juicy, 
subacid, and a trifle gritty. We com¬ 
mented at the time : “ Its earliness, size 
and exceeding beauty will, no doubt, se¬ 
cure it a ready sale. The Angell ripens 
just about with Wilder. Mr. Rogers ad¬ 
mits that the quality is not of the best, 
but then, they look well and sell well.” 
The Wilder Pear introduced by Chas. 
A. Green, of Rochester, is one of the best 
first-earlies. H. E. Van Deman has said 
of it: “ It has come to stay.” John 
J Thomas said of it: “ Good, hand¬ 
some, pleasant.” Thomas Meehan, of 
Philadelphia, Pa., said of it: “It is 
larger and juicier than any other of the 
earlier pears growing here.” 
The Giffakd Pear —see Fig. 91, first 
page—ripens about the middle of August. 
The tree is productive, though not a 
very fast grower. The pear is much the 
shape of the Wilder, though perhaps a 
little more pyriform. The skin is of a 
yellowish-green color, sometimes with a 
tint of red on the sunny side. The flesh 
is tender, juicy aad pleasant. We should 
rank it 5, the scale being from 1 to 10. 
It ripens about the middle of August. 
Margaret. — See Fig. 98, first page. 
—This is, also, rather a small pear, 
ripening a trifle later than the Giffard, 
viz., the last of August. Ellwanger & 
Barry, to whom we are indebted for the 
excellent illustrations accompanying 
this article, describe it in this way: 
“Skin greenish-yellow with brownish- 
red cheek, and covered with greenish 
dots ; flesh fine-grained, melting, juicy, 
vinous and of excellent quality. The 
tree is a vigorous, upright grower, an 
abundant bearer, and comes into bearing 
early.” Mr. T. T. Lyon describes it as 
follows: “Form oblong-obovate, qual¬ 
ity, 5 in the scale from 1 to 10; stem 
medium, cavity none, color yellow, 
mostly covered with deep red, with small 
russet dots ; flesh white, juicy, vinous, 
sweet.” Its season is about the last of 
August. Fig. 98 shows a photo-engrav¬ 
ing of the pear reduced nearly one-half. 
The Bartlett. —Next in our succes¬ 
sion of fruits which is to last us from 
early August until May we must men¬ 
tion the Bartlett. It is too well known 
to need any description except, it may 
be, to say that the tree bears at an early 
age, is very productive, and succeeds 
over a vast extent of country. This pear 
ripens about September 1. See Fig. 93. 
Louise Bonne —see Fig. 95, first page 
—comes next, ripening in early October. 
It ranks in size about 8, according to 
our schedule, the shape being sightly 
pyriform and one-sided, the stem set 
obliquely. The color is light green, with 
a reddish cheek, the flesh is white, tinted 
with green, subacid, melting, juicy. The 
tree grows vigorously on either pear or 
quince ; it is, indeed, one of the best on 
quince. 
Seckkl —See Fig. 89, first page.—In 
this we have small size and exquisite 
quality. We should rank the size as 
3 and quality as 10. It ripens in 
early October. The tree is both hardy 
and productive. If we could have but 
one October pear in our collection, we 
should choose either the Seckel or 
Worden-Seckel, specimens of which have 
been sent to us by the Smiths & Powell 
Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., the introducers, 
every October for the past seven years. 
It ripens nearly with Sheldon or perhaps 
10 days later. The shape and coloring are 
much the same as of the Seckel, but it av¬ 
erages larger, and quality fully as good, 
though possibly a trifle less spicy. The 
tree has the advantage of bearing at an 
earlier age. Storjs & Harrison state that 
the Worden-Sfckel is a half larger than 
its parent, equal in quality, more juicy 
and with an equally rich aroma. They 
find the tree “ a more upright and rapid 
grower, hardy, and an enormous bearer.” 
Mr. Geo T. Powell pronounces it “one 
of the greatest acquisitions to the pear 
supply of recent years.” Prof. Roberts, 
of Cornell, says that it “ deserves a place 
among the best pears in the country.” 
Mr. S. D. Willard says “ The world 
will have the satisfaction of having a 
better pear when this is disseminated 
than it has known before,” etc. If any 
of our readers can fairly say anything 
against the Worden-Seckel pear, we 
should be glad to hear from them. 
The Sheldon —see Fig. 92, first page 
—is of medium size and roundish form. 
It is at first of a russeted green color, 
dull red in the sun. When fully ripe, 
the color may be described as a dull 
brown. The tree is hardy and vigorous. 
In quality, it is vinous, melting, juicy, 
aromatic and rather sweet. This pear 
ripens during October. 
Howell should be considered here. It 
is a beautiful pear of a yellowish color, 
often with a bright red cheek. The flesh 
is melting, juicy and vinous. It ripens 
about the middle of October. 
Angouleme. —See Fig. 90, first page.— 
This pear, when well cared for, grows 
to the largest size, being in shape ob¬ 
tuse pyriform, we should rather say 
truncated pyriform. Its season is early 
November. The skin is yellowish-green 
with reddish russet dots. The flesh is 
buttery, juicy and melting. The Duchesse 
d’Angouleme, as it was once called, suc¬ 
ceeds splendidly upon quince stock, the 
pears growing to a larger size and be¬ 
ing of better quality than if grafted 
upon pear stock. 
Lawrence —see Fig. 94, first page—is 
of medium size, obtuse pyriform in shape, 
light yellow, russeted; flesh sweet, 
juicy, melting and aromatic. We would 
rank the quality as at least 7, though 
much depends upon the manner in which 
it is ripened. We should call this an 
early Winter pear. The tree bears early 
and abundantly. 
Anjou (Beurrfi d’Anjou) —Fig. 97, first 
page.—This may be described as in form 
bluntly pyriform. The skin is green 
with a tint of yellow. It rarely shows 
a red cheek. We should rank this in 
size as 8 to 9 The flesh is melting and 
buttery. I? is sprightly and vinous 
Perhaps this may be regarded as the 
best of the early Winter pears. It is 
an excellent keeper. For several years 
past, we have had occasion to thank 
Ellwanger & Barry for a box of perfect 
An jous sent us as late as late November. 
The tree is a healthy, strong grower. It 
seems to succeed everywhere. 
Winter Nelis —See Fig. 99, first page. 
—This is an early Winter pear, rather 
below medium size, of a roundish pyri¬ 
form shape. It is yellow at maturity, 
covered with a network of russet. In 
quality, it is ranked by leading pomolo- 
gists as best, if the fruit is properly 
thinned out. The tree is very strag¬ 
gling, but vigorous and productive. 
Josephine ds Malines —This is con¬ 
sidered one of the best of our latest 
pears. It ripens as late as February. 
The tree is not a rapid grower, but it is 
hardy and fairly productive. The size 
of the pear is medium and, as shown in 
the illustration, Fig. 100, first page, is 
(Continued on next page.) 
"Laugh Out, Oh, 
Murmuring Spring." 
It is the time to laugh, the year’s fresh 
prime. Sensible people now do the same 
that nature does—aim to be puriOed, and 
for the same reasons. They use that mar¬ 
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Its work and worth are known world wide. 
JfcGClli Sakktfiauffc 
Never Disappoint 
urn 
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