broad at the base; wood strong, light brown, inclined to green, and speckled with fine light-colored dots; leaves large, oval, pointed, nearly flat, and serrated on the margin; petioles long. In Marietta, it ripens from the middle of July to the last of August,-best when ripening on the tree, but very good if gathered when hard and ripened in the house. Size, medium, about two and a quarter inches long, and two and three quarters in diameter: Form, round, largest at the crown, and slightly depressed at each end: Skin, fair, smooth, pale yellow when mature, deeply shaded with light red in the sun, and thickly covered with small russet specks: Stem, medium length, about three quarters of an inch long, rather slender, curved, and deeply sunk in a rather large, open cavity: Eye, medium size, open, and very slightly depressed; segments of the calyx short, pointed: Flesh, white, slightly coarse, melting and juicy: Flavor, rich, sugary, and perfumed: Core, large, somewhat gritty: Seeds, large. Ripe in August and September. 112. STEVENS'S GENESEE. Am. Orchardist, 4th Ed., 1842. Guernsey, Pom. Manual, Vol. I, p. 145. Genesee, Ken. Am. Orchardist, 1st Ed. Stevens' Genesee, London Hort. Soc. Cat., 3d Ed., 1842. For the earliest account of this excellent American pear, (fig. 32,) we are indebted to Mr. W. R. Prince, of Flushing, L. I., who briefly described it in his Pomological Manual, published in 1831, under the name of the Guernsey pear, in honor of J. K. Guernsey, of Monroe County, N. Y., who sent him scions for propagation; subsequently, however, to the publication of that volume, and before the index was put to press, Mr. Prince inserted the name of Stevens's Genesee, with a note, that, "in future, that name would be adopted, Mr. Guernsey having informed him that it was raised from seed by Mr. Stevens, and that it ought to bear his name." It is somewhat remarkable, that a pear possessing so many fine qualities should have been so briefly noticed by pomological writers. We could find no correct account of its origin in any of our treatises on fruits, and we are indebted to the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society for 1847, (p. 327,) for the following history, which had never before been published: "In 1794, James W. Stevens, Esq. removed from Philadelphia to Batavia in this State; but previous to such removal, however, he procured pear seeds from fruit grown in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and took them with him to Batavia, where he planted them. Mr. Stevens succeeded in fruiting a large number of varieties, from which he selected this one for general dissemination, and distributed scions pretty exten Fig. 32. Stevens's Genesee Pear. sively among gentlemen in that region of our State, and, among others, he gave some to a Mr. Guernsey, of Pittsfield, Monroe County, who gave it the name of Stevens's Genesee, and first brought the fruit to the notice of pomologists in Rochester." This pear is but little known, except in Western New York; it is there extensively cultivated, and justly holds a high rank,―nearly equalling the well known Doyenné blanc, so generally disseminated under the name of VIRGALIEU in that region. During our visit to Western New York last autumn, we saw some very beautiful specimens of the fruit at Rochester, and, through the kindness of our friends, brought home several, from one of which our drawing was made. Its only fault is that of occasionally rotting at the core: it should be gathered rather early, and ripened in the house. The tree is moderately vigorous in its growth, of a rather diverging habit, with dark grayish wood. At Rochester, it often ripens the last of August, about the time of the Williams's Bon Chrétien, but in New England, its period of maturity is September. Size, large, about two and three quarters inches broad, and two and three quarters in diameter: Form, roundish obovate, somewhat of the shape of the Doyenné blanc, but rounder, and fuller at the base, and broader at the crown: Skin, fair, smooth, of a pale yellow when mature, considerably covered with small russet specks: Stem, medium length, about one inch long, rather stout, thick at the base, and inserted in a rather shallow, one-sided cavity: Eye, medium size, open, and little sunk in a broad shallow basin; segments of the calyx short, stiff, projecting: Flesh, white, fine, melting and juicy Flavor, rich, sugary, perfumed, and delicious: Core, medium size: Seeds, ?. Ripe in September. 113. GUSTINE'S SUMMER. This new pear, (fig. 33,) of which we have already given a brief account, (p. 106,) was sent to us by J. M. Earle, Esq. of Worcester, president of the Worcester County Horticultural Society, and, so far as we could judge from a single specimen, it appears to be worthy of cultivation among our limited number of early pears. Not having fruited it ourselves, we requested Mr Earle, who has a fine collection of the best pears, to give us some account of its origin, and general qualities, and the following is his reply :— FRIEND HOVEY,-Thy letter is at hand. I did not fruit Gustine's Summer pear till last year, and then had but eight or ten specimens. I do not recollect about the one sent thee, only that it was one of two or three of the last of them, and I thought it was hardly a fair specimen. I think they will average larger than a good sized Madeleine. My trees came from John Wilcomb, of Flushing, who said they were "as good as Dearborn's Seedling, and twice as large." I put a good deal of confidence in his judgment. The tree appears to be very hardy, of a pretty strong and upright growth, giving off rather long spurs, nearly at right angles, and perhaps one fourth of them pointed or thorny. Probably as the tree grows older, it may lose this characteristic. I could send thee specimens of the leaves, but suppose thee hast it growing. I Fig. 33. Gustine's Summer Pear. expected more fruit from the tree this year, but it perished in the general blight of fruit which we had, and I believe there are but two pears on the tree. I nearly forgot to say, that Gustine's Summer originated in New Jersey, as I understand, and was first disseminated by Mr. S. J. Gustine, nurseryman, at Morristown. I presume he would give thee any desirable information respecting it.-Thy friend, J. M. Earle, July 21st, 1849. Size, medium, about two inches long, and two and a half in diameter: Form, roundish, flattened at the crown, and very obtuse at the stem: Skin, fair, smooth, clear lemon yel low when mature, and dotted with small russet specks: Stem, long, about one and a quarter inches, slender, curved, little fleshy at the base, and inserted without any cavity in the obtuse end: Eye, medium size, open, and slightly depressed in a broad, shallow basin; segments of the calyx pointed, diverging: Flesh, white, rather coarse, melting and juicy: Flavor, sugary, pleasantly perfumed, and good: Core, medium size: Seeds, small. Ripe in August. 114. OSWEGO BEURRE'. Horticulturist, Vol. I, p. 324. Read's Seedling, of some. We have already given some account of the origin of the Oswego Beurré, (fig. 34,) in an article in our volume for 1847, (XIII, p. 198,) in which we made some remarks relative to its name, believing its legitimate title to be Read's Seedling. From the facts which were first published with the description of it in the Horticulturist, it appeared that a new name was given to it by Mr. Allen, who introduced it to notice. But since that time, having conversed with him in regard to this subject, we see no impropriety in its being called the Oswego Beurré,-though we think it would have been better to have left the Beurré off, and called it the Oswego pear. We had learned from the Genesee Farmer that it was well known by Mr. Read's neighbors as Read's Seedling; but Mr. Allen states that he gave it that name himself, when he purchased the stock, merely to designate the variety in the nursery; at the same time intending to have it known to the pomological world as the Oswego Beurré, under which name it was first described. The original tree was raised from seed by the late Deacon Walter Read, about twenty-four years ago. The facts, as gathered from Mr. Read's family, are, that he had a rich pear given to him by a friend that had but three seeds, which he saved and planted, two only of which came up; one of them was destroyed by cattle; the other grew up, and now stands where it was planted. It is said to have fruited when only six years old, and has continued to bear every year since, and one season produced sixteen bushels of pears. It is a very hardy tree, and holds its fruit well in severe gales, ripening |