432 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
March  17,  1023 
The 
Com¬ 
plete 
Quality 
Line 
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THE  WM. 
CONNORS  PAINT  MFC.  CO. 
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THE  NEW 
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Seals  Every  Leak 
in  roofs,  gutters,  flashings,  skylights,  tanks, 
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SPECIAL  C.  0.  D.  PRICES 
60  gal*  —  $1.50  gal 
40  gals  —  $1.55  gal 
20  Qals  —  $1.60  gal 
10  gal*  —  $1.65  gal 
5  gals  —  $1.75  gal 
Contains  No  Coal  Tar 
Money  back  if  not  entirely  satisfied 
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THE  HOPE  FARM  BOOK 
This  attractive  234-page  book  has  some  of 
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335  West  30th  Street,  New  York 
The  Story  of  the  Bartlett  Pear 
SPEAK  of  the  Bartlett  in  Europe  and  you  will  not  be  understood. 
Speak  in  this  country  of  the  Williams  or  of  the  Williams’  Bon 
Chretien  or  of  Stair’s  Pear  and  you  will  be  met  with  questioning  glances. 
Yet  in  America  the  first  name  is  a  byword,  and  in  Europe  the  latter  names 
are  quite  familiar.  All  of  which  takes  us  back  to  Aldermasten,  Berk¬ 
shire,  England,  to  the  beginning  of  our  story  of  the  origin  of  a  now 
famous  fruit. 
There  it  was  in  1765,  with  a  schoolmaster  a  Mr.  Stair,  that  a  pear 
originated.  Quite  naturally  enough,  it  was  first  known  locally  as  the  pear 
of  Mr.  Stair,  or  “Stair’s  Pear’’ — just  as  the  new  baby  next  door  is  first  called 
••Jones’  Baby,”  or  “Smith's  Baby” — and  even  to  this  day  it  is  known  in 
the  region  of  its  origin  by  that  name.  Being  the  pear  of  a  conservative 
schoolmaster  probably  added  none  to  its  popularity,  but  it  was  not  long 
until  a  nurseryman  living  near  London,  Mr.  Williams  of  Turnham  Green, 
Middlesex,  and  not  far  distant  from  Aldermasten,  heard  of  the  new  pear. 
Like  most  nurserymen,  Mr.  Williams  was  on  the  watch  for  new  and  wor¬ 
thy  fruits  to  distribute  among  his  trade,  and  so  he  secured  the  variety 
from  Mr.  Stair  and  introduced  it  throughout  England.  Taking  the  name 
of  its  introducer,  it  was  called  "Williams”  and  "Williams’  Bon  Chretien” 
— bon  Chretien  being  translated  good  Christian.  So  much  for  English  his¬ 
tory  ;  now  enter  patriot  days  in  America. 
About  17!)9  James  Carter  of  Boston,  imported  from  London  trees  of 
Williams’  Bon  Chretien,  as  it  was  there  then  commonly  known.  They 
were  planted  on  the  grounds  of  Thomas  Brewer  at  Itoxbury,  Mass.,  and 
had  the  name  not  been  subsequently  lost,  we  should  today  be  speaking  of 
the  first  importation  of  Williams’  Bon  Chretien.  But  the  name  was  lost 
and  no  one  could  identify  the  fruit. 
Now  Enoch  Bartlett  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  acquired  the  Brewer 
estate.  lie  found  this  worthy  new  fruit  growing  on  its  grounds — a  seed¬ 
ling,  for  aught  he  knew — recognized  its  merits  and  introduced  it  under  his 
own  name — Bartlett.  It  met  with  instant  favor  and  was  widely  planted. 
Robert  Manning  of  Salem,  M’ass.,  one  of  the  most  famous  of  the 
early  amateur  pomologists,  prophesied  that  the  new  Bartlett  pear  would 
some  day  he  recognized  as  an  old  European  sort.  It  is  one  thing  to  ship 
fruit  to  Europe  under  refrigeration  by  fast  boat  and  quite  another  to  send 
it  by  slow  sailing  vessel  without  refrigeration,  as  was  done  in  those  days. 
Quite  naturally  there  were  no  importations  of  the  fruit  for  comparison, 
and  no  other  trees  of  this  kind  had  yet  been  fruited  in  America.  Meagre 
printed  descriptions  were  the  only  means  of  identification  available,  and 
nobody  would  venture  to  say  with  certainty  what  a  fruit  might  be,  just 
from  comparison  with  a  short  description.  It  is  difficult  enough  to  make 
comparison  when  fruit  samples  are  at  hand,  for  climatic  conditions  have 
their  influence  upon  the  fruit,  a  statement  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  the 
Bartlett  is  nowhere  nearly  as  popular  a  fruit  in  Europe  as  it  is  in 
America.  No  wonder  then  that  it  was  not  until  1S2S  that  the  prophecy 
came  true.  In  that  year  Manning  himself  pointed  out  the  identity  of 
the  American  Bartlett  and  the  European  Williams’  Bon  Chretien.  Until 
this  time  all  the  Bartlett  trees  in  America  had  been  propagated  from  the 
ones  at  Roxbury;  now  they  were  imported  freely  from  Europe.  But  it 
was  too  late  to  change  the  name  adopted  in  this  country,  and  Bartlett  it 
has  been  ever  since. 
The  Bartlett  is  the  most  widely  grown  pear  in  America,  and  the  most 
popular  pear  of  its  season.  It  is  the  large,  attractive,  yellow  pear  seen 
on  the  fruit  stands  from  late  .Summer  to  late  Autumn,  and  the  one  much 
sought  by  the  house  wife  for  canning.  So  far  as  many  people  are  con¬ 
cerned,  the  Bartlett  is  the  only  pear  grown. 
Its  popularity  is  merited,  lls  good  size,  clear,  light  yellow  color, 
characteristic  pyriform  shape,  with  uneven  or  wavy  surface;  its  white, 
fine-grained  and  buttery  flesh,  full  of  juice  and  with  a  highly  perfumed, 
vinous  flavor,  mark  it  as  a  much  esteemed  dessert  fruit.  Moreover,  it  is 
unexcelled  for  drying  and  canning,  and  ships  well.  It  may  be  gathered 
green  and  ripened  in  storage.  Add  to  this  a  tree  that  is  upright,  sym¬ 
metrical,  a  good  grower,  adapted  to  a  wide  range  of  soil  and  climate,  an 
early,  heavy  and  regular  bearer,  and  you  can  readily  understand  why  the 
Bartlett  ranks  as  the  leading  pear  in  America.  h.  r.  t. 
Error  in  Tax  Assessment 
A  owns  a  lot,  being  a  part  of  Lot  4, 
Jery  tract,  and  in  another  part  of  the 
town  he  also  owns  a  farm,  this  farm  be¬ 
ing  parts  of  Lots  10  and  11,  but  how 
much  of  said  farm  lies  in  Lot  10  or  11 
could  not  be  determined  without  a  survey 
of  farm.  A  new  set  of  assessors  has  as¬ 
sessed  to  A  Lots  4  and  10,  also  Ixjt  5. 
which  he  does  not  own,  or  never  has  had 
any  claim  on.  A  paid  tax  and  has  re¬ 
ceipt  for  same  on  Lots  4  and  10,  but  re¬ 
fuses  to  pay  ou  Lot  5.  Has  the  county 
treasurer  any  authority  to  change  this 
tax  after  the  assessment  roll  has  been 
sworn  to  by  the  assessors  and  tax  has 
been  paid  by  A  ?  R.  I.  S. 
New  York. 
The  State  tax  law  provides  that  an 
error  in  the  description  of  a  parcel  or 
portion  of  real  property  shall  not  invali¬ 
date  the  assessment  against  the  same  if 
such  description  is  sufficiently  accurate 
to  identify  the  parcel  or  portion.  If  it 
shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  board  of 
supervisors  of  any  county  upon  the  veri¬ 
fied  petition  of  the  assessors  of  any  tax 
district  that  any  taxable  property  therein 
has  been  omitted  from  the  assesment  roll 
of  the  preceding  year,  such  board  shall 
place  the  same  on  the  roll  of  the  current 
year  at  its  valuation  for  the  proceeding 
yerv  to  he  ,:\od  bv  tlm  assessors  in  their 
petition,  and  shall  tax  the  same  at  the 
rate  per  centum  of  the  preceding  year. 
That  taxable  property  has  been  omitted 
from  the  assesment  roll  for  the  current 
year,  such  hoard  shall  place  the  same 
thereon  at  a  valuation  to  be  fixed  by  the 
assessors  in  their  petition  and  shall  tax 
the  same  at  the  rate  per  centum  of  the 
current  year. 
A  copy  of  the  petition  under  these  sub¬ 
divisions  with  the  notice  of  the  presen¬ 
tation  thereof  shall  be  served  personally 
on  the  person  alleged  to  be  liable  to  tax 
at  least  10  days  before  the  meeting  of  the 
board  of  supervisors. 
It  would  look  as  if  the  assessors  have 
omitted  to  assess  A  for  Lot  11  and  have 
substituted  Lot  5.  A  should  be  interested 
iu  having  a  correction  made,  for  un¬ 
doubtedly  he  will  have  to  pay  the  tax  on 
Lot  11  some  time,  even  if  it  has  been 
erroneously  omitted  during  the  past  year. 
N.  T. 
"How  is  it.  Major,”  asked  the  ambitious 
young  cook,  addressing  the  hoary-headed 
master  of  the  craft,  “that  you  are  so  in¬ 
variably  successful  in  picking. out  juicy 
suckers  and  never  waste  your  time  on 
empty  prospects?”  “I  simply  wait  till  i 
hear  a  man  state  that  he  is  a  pretty  good 
judge  of  human  nature.”  replied  the  vet¬ 
eran.  “and  then  I  sell  him  the  Union  Sta¬ 
tion  or  something  of  the  sort.” — Kansas 
City  Star. 
