1846. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 153 
mares would produce a breed adapted to all useful pur¬ 
poses. The Lower Canada horses are great travellers, 
and can be kept in good condition with less cost than 
any other race known in the country. 
The third speaker thought the bone of the blood- 
horse was stronger than that of any other race; but he 
concurred with other members of the club, that only 
the largest description of blood-horses should be en¬ 
couraged in the country. 
The fourth speaker thought the horses of the neigh¬ 
borhood had been injured by injudicious breeding. The 
best and largest sized Lower Canadian horses, crossed 
on the best mares, would produce a stock that would 
be hardy in the extreme, and for all useful purposes 
could not be excelled. He had travelled much through 
the country for the purpose of purchasing horses, and | 
had come to this conclusion from observation. 
The fifth speaker thought all that had been said in 
favor of the Lower Canadian French horses was strictly 
correct. He was certain that no breed of horses would 
perform long journeys and the various servitude that 
was required, so well as the thorough or even half-bred 
Canadians. 
The sixth speaker agreed with the speakers that had 
preceded him, that the Lower Canadian horses, crossed 
on the large Pennsylvania mares, would produce a 
most valuable description of stock. 
DESCRIBING FRUITS. 
The increasing importance of fruit culture, as a source 
of commerce and wealth, as well as of domestic com¬ 
fort, and the great consequent increase of attention 
given to it in all parts of the country, render the de¬ 
scription and recognition of varieties which so nume- 
rously abound, a matter very much to be desired. The j 
names of good fruits are often applied to bad, and of j 
celebrated, to obscure varieties. It is hoped therefore, 
that every effort to remove the confusion and ambigui¬ 
ty which has been so common in describing fruits, may 
be found useful. 
We are often furnished with specimens of this obscu¬ 
rity and want of accuracy. An instance was lately ob¬ 
served on looking over the pages of McIntosh’s “ Or¬ 
chard”—a book standing quite high among British 
works on Pomology. Eight different sorts of Nonpa- 
reil are described in this work; the first is Braddick's 
Nonpareil, which among other things is described as 
“ quite the Nonpareil shape ”—what that is, is not 
stated. The next is the Golden Nonpareil, which is 
“ in form, that of the Nonpareil group;” the Scarlet Non¬ 
pareil is in “ form similar to other Nonpareils;” the Old 
Nonpareil is « fiattish,” the Martin Nonpareil is “ near¬ 
ly conical,” the Ross Nonpareil is “roundish,” the 
Sweeney Nonpareil is “ irregular,” and the Pitmaston 
Nonpareil is “ compressed at both ends like all the 
Nonpareils;” while the colored figure represents the 
Scarlet Nonpareil as roundish, inclining to ovate or coni¬ 
cal, and not at all compressed at the blossom end, the 
stem being invisible. . On looking into Coxe, who 
gives figures of nearly all his apples, for information to 
reconcile, if possible, these contradictions, two varie¬ 
ties of Nonpareil are found, one of which is represent¬ 
ed fiat, and the other long-conical. 
The comparison of one fruit with that of another 
by way of description, is not very satisfactory to a per¬ 
son of limited experience or observation, at the same 
time that it is very frequent in many works. The 
expressions, “Pearmain shaped,” “Calville shaped,” 
u form that of a Colmar,” &c., though very intelligible 
to some, are to others about as perspicuous as Dr. 
Johnson’s two famous definitions,—“ wrong, not right,” 
—and “ right, not wrong.” 
Loudon, Downing, and others, have given some 
figures illustrating the meaning of terms; and with the 
hope of contributing a little to uniformity and perspicu¬ 
ity among the many wdio furnish descriptions of new 
fruits, some additional examples are given. 
An apple is Jlat or oblate , when the height or distance 
from the stem to blossom, is much less than the (cross> 
diameter, as in the Rambo, fig. 1. 
It is round or roundish, when the height and diame¬ 
ter are nearly equal, as in the Wine apple, fig. 4. 
It is oblong, when the height is more than the diame¬ 
ter, and the sides are somewhat parallel, as in the Sum¬ 
mer Pearmain, fig. 6. 
It is ovate or egg-shaped when the height is greater 
than the diameter, and the form rounded and narrowed 
towards the blossom end, as in Bullock's Pippin, fig. 5. 
It is conical, when it tapers to the blossom end, with¬ 
out the sides being rounded, as the Cumberland Spice. 
Ovate. Oblong. Oblong Pearmain- 
Ovate. shaped. 
Different combinations of these simple terms apply to 
various other shapes; as oblong-conical, as in the Black 
j Gilliflower, fig. 3; oblong.ovate, as in the Porter, fig. 7; 
: roundish-conical, as in the Summer Queen, fig. 2; round- 
| ish-ovate, as in the Esopus Spitzenburgh and Baldwin; 
roundish-oblong, as in the Pennock, and Newtown Pip- 
! pin; roundish-oblate, as in the Swaar and Rhode-Island 
j Greening, &c. As most varieties approach the round 
form, and as a consequence are not so readily distin¬ 
guished, as when of more striking forms, a closer ob¬ 
servation and a greater number of examinations are 
needed to detect slight approaches to other forms. 
The same terms may apply to pears and other fruits, 
but pears require in part a new set of terms, as, 
Pyriform, (strictly pear-shaped,) with a considerable 
neck, as in the Andrews, fig. 9. 
Obtuse-pyriform, the same in shape but more blunt 
or rounded, as in the Bartlet, fig. 10. 
Pyriform. Obtuse- Obovate. Turbinate, 
pyriform. 
Obovate or inverted ovate, as in the Virgalieu, fig. 11. 
Turbinate, (or top-shaped, a term rather ambiguous 
among modern toy-dealers,) rounded, and slightly ta¬ 
pering to the stem, as in the Bloodgood, fig. 12. 
Roundish, as in Bleeker's Meadow and Summer Rose. 
Various combinations of these forms exist, as obovate- 
pyriform, in the Washington and Urbaniste; turbinate- 
pyriform, as in the Capiamont and Madeleine; roundish- 
pyriform, as in the Julienne and Summer Frankreal, 
&c. 
The form of pears is sometimes described by compa¬ 
rison with others, as Bergamot-shaped or roundish, 
rather flattened and inclining slightly to ovate; Colmar¬ 
shaped, or obtuse pyriform, &c. 
Apples are often described by the same mode of com¬ 
parison, as Calville-shaped, conspicuously ribbed, and 
more or less irregular; Pearmain-shaped, roundish, 
slightly oblong-ovate, and something like a trunca¬ 
ted cone, as in the Herefordshire Pearmain, fig. 8. 
The term pippin is applied to all kinds of apples, of 
every variation in color, flavor, form, and keeping 
qualities, and appears to possess no definite meaning. 
J. J. T. 
