VARIETIES OF PEARS
Ste,—Planters of pears (as also of apples) should if possible supple- ment such a list as Mr. H. E. Bates gave by getting information from growers in the same district and soil. Cox's Orange doss excellently in my garden, but apparently much less well in one little more than a mile away.
Some of the dozen pears recommended are as good here as they can be anywhere—Bon Chretien, Beurre Hardy, Conference, Lowe Bonne, Doyenne du Cornice, Glou Morceau, and that has sometime- made me wonder whether many other kinds, useless here, can any where have the qualities attributed to them.
Tried during more than twenty years, Winter Neils has been, like many other sorts, a complete failure. Three trees have seldom pro- duced any fruit and what fruit there has been has not ripened. Triomphe de Vienne (but only one tree) has in the same period produced perhaps a dozen pears in all and these of poor quality. Some kinds are occasionally good here, but in most years poor; e.g Marie Louise, generally prolific most years, of poor quality, never per- haps as good as it should be; and Josephine de Malines (this not lasting as Mr. Bates seems to suggest). The best of all pears here i Glou Morceau. In some years it is mostly spoilt by scab, and it ii never as attractive to- the eye as some other sorts, nor it is batter in flavour than Louise Bonne or Doyenne du Cornice are in the' short seasons, but I have frequently had a crop supplying ripe an delicious fruit from mid-December to well into March, and each pear when ripe keeps in good condition for at least a week. Of :tie trees of Beurre Superfin one has always been spoilt by scab ; the other has produced beautiful looking pears, but like those of many oqw kinds they have rotted instead of ripening. The time of ripening is generally rather later here than the bank• suggest, and in some sorts varies. Thus in some years Louise Bonne has only begun to be ripe about October loth, and in others it lasted nearly a month and been over about that time. Confere here is not usually ripe till early November. Beurre d'Amanlis is some years early in October, so good as to be worth growing, no withstanding ' Bunyard's Anatomy of Dessert. If others ha"
found so many sorts falsify the character given to them as I ha this may well account for comparatively few being planted. If
were beginning again I think I should plant six or seven sorts ing
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