cultivated, and consequently grown in a great variety of soils and situations, some of which would suit them, and others not; and that this is the case may be inferred from the fact, that in some places these sorts are to be found healthy enough. There are many theories upon this subject, which form subjects of curious inquiry to the practical horticulturist.

American apples are brought into England, as well as many French apples. About twenty thousand bushels is the average amount of the importation.

THE PEAR-Pyrus communis.

Amongst the trees which Homer describes as forming the orchard of Laertes, the father of Ulysses, we find the pear*. Pliny mentions several sorts of pears which were grown in Italy, and particularly mentions that a fermented liquor was formed of their expressed juice. It is probable that the Romans brought the cultivated pear to England, and that the monks paid great attention to its varieties. There is a tradition that King John was poisoned in a dish of pears by the monks of Swinsted; and the tale, whether true or false, would imply that the fruit was such as the churchmen would offer to the monarch as a luxury. In an old book of household accounts of Henry VIII, there is an item of twopence "to a woman who gaff the Kyng peres ;" and in the time of Gerard we find that great attention was paid to their growth by the nurserymen in the neighbourhood of London. The old herbalist, after declaring that in his time to write of the sorts of apples and pears," and those exceeding good," would require a particular volume," adds-" Master Richard

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*Odyssey, 1. xxiv. v. 337.

Pointer has them all growing in his ground at Twickenham, near London, who is a most cunning and curious grafter and planter of all manner of rare fruits; and also in the ground of an excellent grafter and painful planter, Master Henry Bunbury, of Touthil-street, near unto Westminster; and likewise in the ground of a diligent and most affectionate lover of plants, Master Warner, neere Horsly Down, by London; and in divers other grounds about London." The neighbourhood of Worcester was probably then celebrated, as at the present day, for the cultivation of this fruit, for three pears are borne in the arms of the city. We have already alluded to the manufacture of perry, which is almost peculiar to Worcestershire.

Most of the fine sorts of pears are of continental origin, the horticulturists of France and the Netherlands having paid more attention to that species of fruit than those of England. As these varieties have retained their original names, a good many laughable corruptions have been produced in their popular nomenclature in just the same way that "the Boulogne Mouth" is now rendered "the Bull and Mouth." Thus the Bon-Chrêtien is converted into the Boncrutching; the Beurré into the Bury; the Chaumontelle into the Charmingtel. Such odd names as the Bishop's-Thumb, and many others which our fruiterers use, may probably be traced to a similar cause. In the names of apples there is the same corruption,-as Runnet for Reinette. The names of fruits in all countries occasionally present some laughable anomalies, such as the "BonChrêtien Turc," one of the finest of the French pears.

The Chinese, who are said to carry the cultivation of fruit to much greater perfection than the European gardeners, are stated by Marco Polo to

have pears, white in the inside, melting, and with a fragrant smell, of the enormous weight of ten pounds each.

The wood of the pear is much firmer than that of the apple, and it is much less liable to be attacked by insects, or to decay. In some of the old orchards, where the apple-trees have wholly disappeared, the pears are in full vigour, and bear abundantly. This is remarkably the case at the old Abbey-garden at Lindores, on the south bank of the Tay, in the county of Fife: disease could have nothing to do with the death of the apple-trees there, as the soil is one of the very best for apples in the kingdom, being fine strong black loam to a great depth. Yet there are many old apple-trees in the kingdom. At Horton, in Buckinghamshire, where Milton spent some of his earlier years, there is an apple-tree still growing, of which the oldest people remember to have heard it said that the poet was accustomed to sit under it. And upon the low leads of the church at Rumsey, in Hampshire, there is an apple-tree still bear ing fruit, which is said to be two hundred years old.

The fruit catalogue of the Horticultural Society contains above six hundred varieties of the pear; and it is there observed, that "the newly introduced Flemish kinds are of much more importance than the greater part of the sorts which have been hitherto cultivated in Great Britain, and when brought into use will give quite a new feature to the dessert."

THE QUINCE-Cydonia vulgaris.

The quince was introduced into Europe, according to Pliny, from the island of Crete. From the large

ness of this fruit, and its splendid colour, it is not im probable that it was the same with the apples of the Hesperides; for Galesio, in his treatise on the orange, has shewn that the orange tree was unknown to the Greeks, and that it did not naturally grow in those parts where the gardens of the Hesperides were placed by them. The fruit of the quince, however useful and ornamental it may be in some respects, does not warrant such honours, and in truth has not continued to receive them; for the French, who have paid great attention to its cultivation, particularly for grafting pears upon its stocks, call the quincetree" coignassier," probably, according to Duhamel, because the disagreeable odour of the fruit requires that it should be placed in a corner (coin) of the orchard or garden. In the south of France, par ticularly on the borders of the Garonne, the quince is very extensively grown; and the peasants prepare from it a marmalade which they call cotignac. The term marmalade is derived from the Portuguese name for the quince, marmelo. Gerard says, that in his time quince-trees were planted in the hedges of gardens and vineyards; and marmalade, two centuries ago, seems to have been in general use, principally from a belief that it possessed valuable medicinal properties. The seeds of the quince are still used in medicine, on account of the great quantity of mucilage which they yield to boiling water.

There are eight varieties of the quince noticed in the fruit catalogue of the Horticultural Society. Amongst these the Chinese quince (Cydonia Sinensis) is inserted on account of the resemblance which its fruit has to that of the common quince; although in France, where only in Europe it has produced fruit, it is not considered eatable. The Chinese

quince was introduced into England and Holland nearly forty years ago, and was planted in France about ten years later. The tree has much the appearance of the common quince, as well as the fruit. It is remarkable for the number and brilliancy of its flowers.

ORNAMENTAL CRABS.

The crab of Siberia, which had been introduced into this country within the last fifty years, has contributed to the extension of our varieties of apple, by offering a valuable stock for grafting. The fruits thus produced by the union of our richest apples and the Siberian crab are remarkably hardy and luxuriant. The Siberian crab differs in a peculiar manner from our native crab. It furnishes one of the many evidences of the continued influence of original climate upon vegetables, when they are naturalized in another region. The winters of Siberia are intensely cold, the change to summer is sudden, and the heat equally violent. Our own changes of temperature are much slower, and more irregular. Thus, when the native crab scarcely shews signs of life, the Siberian variety puts forth its leaves, blossoms, and bears fruit, early even in an unfavourable season*. The flowers of the Siberian crab are beautiful; and its fruit is of a sharp, yet pleasant, flavour. There are many pretty varieties of Pyrus, which are principally cultivated in our gardens for their flowers. The Chinese crab (Pyrus spectabilis) is most showy and ornamental. It grows to the height of twenty or thirty feet. Its blossoms are of a pale red, but they are of short

*See Hort. Trans., vol. i,