XLIV. A short Account of some Pears and Apples, of which Grafts were communicated to the Horticultural Society. By THOMAS ANDREW KNIGHT, Esq. F. R. S. &c. President.

MERLET,

Read March 5, 1811.

ERLET, who wrote in the latter end of the seventeenth century, has described two varieties of the Pear, which were at that period confounded under the name of the St. Germain and Du HAMEL has admitted the accuracy of MERLET'S account.* These varieties so closely resemble each other in their wood, their buds, their foliage, and blossoms, that it is impossible to distinguish the one from the other; and there is also much similarity in the external character of their fruit. Both varieties are known in this country; but I have seen one only sent from the nurseries round London, and that the inferior or spurious kind; and I have, therefore, sent a few grafts of the true St. Germain, under the hope that they may prove acceptable to some Members of the Horticultural Society.

The spurious variety ripens in December, and the fruit grown in my garden, and in others in the neighbourhood, remains green when ripe, and generally decays before the end of January; and if the soil and season be not favourable,

* Traité des Arbres fruitiers, tom. 2. p. 227.

it is watery and insipid. The form of the spurious variety, as DU HAMEL has remarked, is less long, and subject to much more variations, than that of the true variety. The true St. Germain remains in perfection till the latter end of March, and may be easily preserved till April, and is amongst the very best of the Winter Pears.

If the grafts I send be inserted into the horizontal branches deprived of their barren spurs, of old Pear Trees, on walls, they may be made to afford fruit next year; but for this purpose the grafts must remain nearly as long as the longest scions I send; and they should be inserted as near as possible to the extremity of the branches, and their points be bent downwards, and secured to the wall.

I have long cultivated the two varieties of the St. Germain, and in very different soils; and I formerly supposed the true variety to be the Louise Bonne (which Mr. FORSYTH has translated, for the "benefit of country gentlemen," the Good Lewis Pear); but from that it differs widely in its wood, foliage, and blossom.

These grafts are accompanied with others of some new varieties of Apples, which, I believe, deserve culture, and of which I will add a concise description.

The Yellow Ingestrie Pippin. Similar in colour and flavour to the Golden Pippin, but ripens early in October; a very productive variety, and amongst the best of its season.

The Red Ingestrie Pippin. Ripens a fortnight later than the Yellow, and resembles a good deal in colour a very ripe Golden Rennet. This, and the preceding variety, sprang from two seeds of the same Apple, which occupied the same

cell. Their names are derived from Ingestrie, (pronounced Ingstre) the seat of the Earl TALBOT, in Staffordshire.

The Grange Apple. A fruit of great beauty, and similar in colour to a very fine Golden Pippin; it ripens early in October, but remains sound till February.

The Downton Pippin. I have already sent a description and sample of this Apple to the Horticultural Society.* It is equally well calculated for the desert, the press, and for every culinary purpose, where a large size is not required; and I do not know any Apple which can be brought to market, at any given price, with so much advantage to the cultivator. Many of the grafts I send, if inserted in situations properly exposed to the sun, will afford fruit next season.†

The Brindgwood Pippin. Of this variety I have only seen a few Apples, which were very acid when taken from the tree, though apparently quite ripe, but became very excellent in February. Its form and character are those of a large and flat Golden Pippin, with russet stripes. The growth and appearance of the original tree induced me to suppose, that this variety will prove very productive and valuable.+

The Wormsley Pippin. This Apple ripens in the end of October, and many of my friends think it the best Apple of its season. It is very large, and in the consistence, and juiciness of its pulp, it more nearly resembles the New Town Pippin of America, than any other Apple with which I am acquainted.

* See page 35.

† These four varieties sprang from the same parents-from the seed of the Orange Pippin and the pollen of the Golden Pippin. The original trees are at Wormsley Grange, in Herefordshire.

This variety sprang from the Golden Pippin and Golden Harvey.

The Golden Harvey, or Brandy Apple. This variety is generally esteemed in Herefordshire the best fruit of its species, and, I think, with reason. Its season commences in November, and it remains in perfection, with proper attention, till May. It has long been cultivated in Herefordshire, and it has consequently passed the period of youth and vigour ; but it is still perfectly well calculated for garden culture. A coloured plate of this variety is given in the Pomona Herefordiensis, with that of its offspring, the Siberian Harvey, to which alone it is inferior in richness, and in the high specific gravity of its juice. The Siberian Harvey is of little value except for the press.

XLIV. Some Account of the Red Doyenné Pear. By RICHARD ANTHONY SALISBURY, Esq. F. R. S. &c. Secretary.

Read April. 2, 1811.

ONE NE of the objects of the Horticultural Society being to make known, and more certainly distinguish by accurately coloured figures, several valuable fruits, the places of which are too often usurped by inferior varieties, I beg leave to call their attention to a Pear, which I call the Red Doyenné.

This excellent Pear is little known, and was some years ago sold by many nurserymen for a new variety. I believe it, however, to be very old, and have little doubt that it has been in England more than a century; for in a large tree of it, taken down at Shawhill, near Halifax, in 1779, I counted eighty annual circles.

Two Pears, of the name of Denny and Dionier, are mentioned by WORLIDGE in 1676, but he gives no description of them. This possibly may be one of those; at any rate it is now confounded in our gardens with a very inferior Pear, under the name of Diana Pear.

In the magnificent work on Fruit Trees, publishing at Paris by Messrs. POITEAU and TURPIN, two Pears are described, and called the Doyenné and Doyenné Roux. Ours I take to be the latter, but solely from the description; the figure of it, though probably by this time published at Paris, not having yet reached this country. The authors of that work very