This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
A very handsome, oblong pear, of good size; pale yellow, juicy, and sweet. Very good. First of December.
Medium, or rather small; skin thick, very rough; dull green and russet, with a faint blush; a little coarse-grained, juicy, tender, and subacid. Good. Last of November. An extremely unprepossessing fruit in appearance; but one which promises well.
Large, yellow, rather coarse. First of October. These were the first perfect specimens which our trees have produced, and they were quite inferior to some which I have tasted elsewhere, and not unlike a poor specimen of Stevens's Genesee.
A rather large elongated pear, somewhat resembling Doyen Dillen, but with more red in the sun. It is, however, inferior to it; rotting at the core before attaining ripeness.
Medium, pyriform, pale green; marked with russet; juicy and tender, but inferior. Middle of November.
Medium, obtuse-pyriform; dull green, with a faint blush; coarse and astringent. Last of November.
Cracked so badly as to be quite worthless, and did not attain its full size.
Did not ripen well, and was quite small.
Medium, obtuse-turbinate, dull green, melting, juicy, and sweet. Good. Middle of November.
Rather small; acute-pyriform; wholly covered with cinnamon russet, with a rich blush in the sun; juicy, buttery, and sweet. Very good. First of November. A very handsome pear, which bore a fine crop, and gives promise of considerable excellence.
A medium, or rather large fruit; yellowish-green, with considerable russet, and a faint blush rather coarse and gritty, but very juicy, melting, and subacid, having much of the Brown Beurre' character. Very good. Middle of September. Bore an abundant crop, and promises well.
Rather small, roundish, cinnamon russet; a little coarse, melting and rich. Last of September. Our specimens were rather indifferent; but some, which I received from a friend in the vicinity, were of full medium size, and "very good." It will, I think, prove a valuable variety.
Small, greenish-yellow, with a little russet; melting and sweet. Good. First of October.
Small, obovate, pale yellow and red; a little gritty; juicy, melting, and sweet. Very good. First of September. This was evidently gathered too early, as it had not acquired its proper sue.
Medium; dull yellow, coarse, gritty, juicy, and sweet. Very good. First of November.
A large, yellowish-green, russeted pear; juicy, melting, and sweet. Good. First of November.
Began to fall from the trees in September, and did not ripen, after being gathered.
Proved to be Doyenne d'Ete. A variety received for Charles Van Mons, but supposed to be Theodore Van Mons, proved worthless (from a standard), being hard, dry, and flavorless.
Medium; greenish-yellow, with a faint blush; rather coarse and gritty; tender, juicy, and sweet. Good. First of October.
Indifferent. First of November. This fruited very well on the quince, and some of the specimens were of pretty good size, but with little flavor. It, as well as many others of the varieties named, will probably improve as the trees acquire age. The first fruit rarely being a fair test of the excellence of the variety.
January 7,1856.
As your very able contributors are giving us important instructions "When and how to Plant," on "Planting and Pruning," and on "Cultivation," may we not hope, in due time, to hear what to plant?
My mite of experience, if worthy the place, may be added to the common stock. If such valuable information as is contained in the articles above alluded to, and in numerous publications now before the public, had been easily accessible years earlier, what an amount of labor and mortification might have been spared. But the products of ten years, without these to guide, have not been too dearly bought.
The intention, at the outset, was to give a list, selected from one hundred varieties fruited here, of "very good" pears. Most of these have fruited here twice, thrice, or oftener, in sufficient quantity to test tolerably fairly.
Every amateur will desire to possess that beautiful, very early, small variety, Doyenne d'Ete, and also Madeleine, neither of which can enter my list of "very good." Both will probably be superseded by Beurre Giffard.
But to my list, given in the order of ripening: Bloodgood, Dearborn's, Elizabeth (Man), Washington, Ott, Rostiezer, Hanna's, Henkel, Fondante de Malines, Chancellor, Fulton; Camerling, Urbaniste, Kingsessing, Buffum, Liberate, Capi-aumont, Flemish Beauty - recently imported under the euphonious cognomen Gagne a Heuse, Lawrence, Winter Nelis, Bleeker's Meadow, Passe Colmar, and Gloat Morceau.
The list of "Best" is easily added: Tyson, Bartlett, St. Ghislain, and Seckel. Almost worthy admission to this last list, are Washington, Ott, and Fondante de Malines.
Notwithstanding its position, if I were fruiting one hundred trees for profit, three-fourths should be of Lawrence.
Downingtown, Chester Co., Pa., March 10.
Next year Mr. Eaton can probably tell a very different story aboutrthe growth and flavor of many of these same pears. The variety, soil, cultivation, climate, and season must determine what, in the way of pears, the grower of them had best cultivate. I have attended sundry consultations of the savans on this subject, and am still in doubt, beyond half a dozen standard varieties.
Prof. Coppock is a close observer, and his statements arc valuable; some of them 1 can corroborate, having had various opportunities of seeing (and tasting) the results of his experiments.
That with the Vicar of Winkfield was wonderfully successful, and 1 was greatly surprised on eating a specimen, to find that a pear of which I had ] never before found one that I considered fit to eat, could be 80 exeedingly fine. - In regard to the Columbia, I have had very fine specimens which were of fair quality, although rather wanting in high flavor, but of late I find it to crack.
 
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