The Eighth Dwarf-tree. A First Robine-pear-tree.

This Pear is known in different Places, sometimes under the Name of the Pear of Averat, * sometimes under that of the Muscat-pear of August, &c. and at the Court it self by the name of the Pear-Royal, that Name being given it by the Illustrious Father of the Curious, who believed, and not without reason, that, as among us, the Title of King is at present appropriated to the Person of Him that, of all Men, has the most Merit; so the Name of Royal among Pears, ought to be given to that which appears to have the fewest Defects; and, in Truth, may be look'd upon as an accomplish'd Pear. Take here its Picture: It is near about the bigness and shape of a little Bergamot, that is to say, between round * and flat, its Stalk is pretty long, strait, and sunk pretty hollow into the Pear, and its Crown or Eye is also a little hollow and sunk inwards, its Pulp breaks short in the Mouth without being hard, and its sugred and perfumed Juice charms all the World, and particu∣larly the chiefest Prince of the Earth, and with him all the whole Royal Family. Its Colour is a yellowish White, and its Skin is gentle; it hardly grows soft at all, which is a very important Quality, and almost peculiar to this only among all the Summer-pears: Neither Page  93 does its Excellence terminate in being eaten raw; it is admirable besides in Pies and Com∣potes: It forms a very fair and large Dwarf-tree, and thrives well every where, and has no Reproach to fear, except that its Wood is subject sometimes to the Canker, and * that commonly it is difficult to be brought to bear; but I shall elsewhere give you suffi∣cient good Remedies against those Defects; and there is nothing else but the time of its ripening that gives us any trouble to defend our choice of it to this place, because it comes in, as I have said above, together with the Russelet-pear, and the first great Peaches. But it has this advantage, That it is not asham'd to appear in their Company: All this then put together, is it not enough to oblige us to confess, That the Robine-pear Merits at least an Eighth Place, without fearing any other Pear will be able to make any available oppo∣sition against it, unless it be the Colmar-pear, for the Month of February?

The Seventh and Eighth places of Dwarf-trees being so well filled up, the Ninth is de∣manded not only by every one of the Seven Pears which we have already mentioned above, viz. The Louise-bonne or good Louise, the Petit-oin, the St. Germain, the Marchioness, the Crasanne, the St. Augustin and the Colmar; but also by the Verte longue or Long-green pear, besides which, the Sucré-vert or Sugar-green, the Dry Martin, the Lansac, the Messire-John and the Portal, dare almost presume themselves not altogether unworthy of it. Let us Examine separately the Reasons of the principal Aspirants in the same manner as near as we can, as we have done those of them already plac'd. I shall begin with explaining what concerns those new sorts of Pears, the Crasanne, the St. Germain, the Marchioness, the St. Augustin and the Colmar, and then pass on to speak of the Petit-oin, the Louise bonne or good Louise, the Verte-longue or Long-green pear, and the Lansac.

The Crasanne meets with many Gentlemen that call it the Bergamot Crasanne; Bergamot, * because of its Pulp; and Crasanne, because of its Shape, which looks as if it were squeezed down: But I think it would be more proper for it to bear the Name of the Flat Butter-pear, it being pretty much of the Nature and Colour of the Butter pear, though it differ from it in its flat Figure, it is nearest the Shape of the Messire-John: There are of this sort some very great, some midling, and some very small Pears. The Ground of its Colour is greenish, growing yellow when it is ripe, and almost all over speckled with red Spots: Its Stalk is long, pretty thick, bent and hollow set, like Apple stalks: Its Skin is rough, its Pulp extreamly tender and Butter-like, though it be not always very fine; and its Juice is as abounding as that of the Famous Butter-pears, but that it unhappily adds beyond what they have, a certain kind of biting Sharpness, which is the Cause that among the Bergamots, the Thorn-pears, the Petit-oins, the Louise-bonnes or Good Louises, the Ambrets, the Leschasseries, &c. in whose Company it pretty often appears in the Months of October and November, it is accused to make not an over pleasing Figure, and particularly with those Persons that, loving Pears as Nature presents them, seldom care for any Sugar with them: However, because there are often enough found some Pears of this Sort without this great Defect of biting Sharpness, as it proves in those growing in a Soil a little fattish and moi∣stish, like that of Versailes; one may say, That 'tis not altogether without reason, that it pretends to the place in Dispute; to which, if we add the Qualities of preserving it self a whole Month in perfect mellowness without ever growing pappy; and lastly, of being subject at most but to the common Condition of all Fruits, that is to rottenness, and that but by degrees, it beginning at first in this Pear, but at one small part of it, to give no∣tice that it cannot last much longer. These Three last Considerations may reasonably procure it a great number of Protectors.

To look upon a St. Germain-pear, being very long and pretty big, and some of them green and a little spotted, some pretty red, and all of them growing very yellow as they ripen, with short, indifferent thick and bending Stalks; one would take it for a very fine Virgoulee-pear; and those of them that are but small of growth, are something like the St. Le∣zin-pears: This Sort of Pear comes almost always in at the same time with the Virgoulee, Thorn pear, Ambret and Leschasserie, though sometimes it comes before them, and sometimes not till after them, which commonly depends upon the Temper and Behaviour of the Summer and Autumn; and that, as I have elsewhere said, holds true, not only as to these Pears, but, in general, in all the fine Autumn and Winter-pears; and besides, the difference of Stocks on which those sorts are graffed, whether Free or Quince-stocks; and of Exposi∣tions more or less Sunny, and of Soils dry or wet, are of great Influence in this re∣spect, &c.

This St. Germain-pear, otherwise called the Unknown Pear of the Fare, has a very tender * Pulp, without any earthy or stony Remains, is of a great Taste, with much Juice, but that Juice has very often a small point of Lemonish sharpness, which pleases some curious People, and displeases some others: I have seen some of them that had little or nothing Page  94 of that Taste, and some others again which happily had none at all, and were by con∣sequence, better to my Taste; without doubt, the being Graffed on a Quince-stock, and the excessive driness of a Soil, augment this Defect; and therefore we ought to affect ra∣ther to Graff them upon Free-stocks, and in a Ground where driness does not so much pre∣dominate; yet, I will say to its Honour, that this sowrish Taste is found only in such Pears of this sort, that because they are worm-eaten, mellow in November, and is seldom met with in those that come not to mellow till the end of December.

The Marquis or Marchioness assumes two different Figures, according to the difference of * the Soils or Trees on which it grows: If the Ground be dry, it is pretty like in Bigness and Shape, to a very fine Blanquet-pear, or a midling Boncretien, and it proves the same upon a Standard-Tree; But in Grounds that are fat and moist, and upon a Dwarf-tree, there are of them that grow extraordinary great. This Pear is of a handsom make; it has a flat Head, a little Eye or Crown sunk inwards, a pretty big Belly and handsomly sloping down towards the Stalk, which is indifferent long, thick, bent downward, and a little hollow set; its Skin is somewhat rough, its Colour is of a green Ground flourished with some flakes of red, as is to be seen in the Butter-pear; which Colour, if it change not in ripening, the Pear proves very bad, having in that the same Destiny with the Louise-bonnes or Good Louise's, the Thorn-pears, Petit-oins and Lansacs; this miscarriage comes from the moistness of the Soil, or the too thick and tuffed Figure of the Dwarf-tree in such Grounds: But when the green of it grows kindly yellow as the Fruit ripens, then the Pulp of it is tender and fine, the Taste pleasing, the Juice sufficiently abounding, and as much Sugred as is to be wish'd in a marvellous Pear: It's true, it has something of a stony Substance towards the Core, but that sure ought not to hinder it from being look'd upon with some esteem, in the Months of October and November.

The Pear of Colmar came to me under that Name, from an illustrious curious Gen∣tleman * of Guien, and from another Place under the Name of a Manna-pear, and under that of the latter Bergamot: And indeed this last Name would better agree to it, than that of Colmar; it has very much of the Air of a Boncretien, and sometimes of a fair Ber∣gamot: * Its Head is flat, its Eye or Crown indifferent great, and sunk very hollow, its belly a little thought bigger than the Head, moderately lengthening it self, and very grosly lessening till it comes to the Stalk, which is short, pretty thick and bent downwards. Its Colour is a spotted green like the Bergamet, and sometimes a little tinged with red on the side next the Sun: It grows a little yellow when it comes to be mellow, which happens in December and January, and sometimes reaches as far as February and March: Its Skin is gentle and smooth, its Pulp tender, and its Juice very sweet and very sugred; in which you have the Picture of an Excellent Pear, but yet it has the same ill Offices to fear from the Quality of the Soil, and of the Seasons with the Thorn-pear, the Louise-bonne or Good Louise, the Petit oin, &c. being a little subject to have its Pulp gritty and insipid; besides which, it fears the least blasts of the Autumn Winds, which especially upon Tall-trees easily blow down its Fruit, and hinder it from acquiring that degree of Perfection which natu∣rally it should have. Its just maturity of mellowness is not easie to nick; for though it be yellow, it is not always ripe enough for all that, but after it has appeared yellow for a considerable time, when it yields a little to the Thumb, if gently pinch'd.

The Petit-oin, which some Angevins, or People of Anjou, name Bouvar, others the Russet of Anjou, others Amadont; and lastly, others, the Winter-Marvel, is a Pear of November. * It is almost of the bigness and shape of the Ambrets or Leschasseries. Its Colour is a clear green, a little spotted, and has a small touch of yellow when it is ripe; one would be * ready enough to take it for a midling Bergamot, but that it has nothing of flatness, but, on the contrary, is very round, has a great Eye or Crown jetting outwards, a small stalk pretty long, a little bending downward, and shallow set, a Skin between rough and soft; its Body is a little uneven, and full of Bunches, its Pulp extreamly fine and melting, with∣out any stony or earthy remains, its juice very sweet, very much sugred, and agreeably Perfumed with a smack of Musk; all which confirms to us, That as little as it is in Bulk, it ought to be allowed a Place among good Pears, and be ranked among the first in Fruit-Gardens, though, as I have elsewhere said, it runs the same hazards as the Thorn-pear, and other principal Pears of contracting a doughy and insipid Pulp; but in fine, for all that, it may be said, That provided its natural temper be not spoiled by those Things which may be termed the sworn Enemies of all good Fruits, which are too much moisture and too little heat; there cannot, during two Months space, be seen a better little Pear than this is in its perfect Maturity.

Page  95 The Louise Bonne, or Good Louise, is of a shape pretty like that of St. the German-Pear, * and even of the Verte-Longue, or Long-green-Pear of Autumn; but that it is not quite so narrow pointed; some of them are much bigger and longer than others, but the least are best; its stalk is very short, a little fleshy, and bent downwards; its Eye or Crown is small and even with the body; its skin very gentle and smooth, its colour of a speckled greenish, growing whitish as it ripens, which happens not to the bigger of them: The First Mark then of its ripeness is that whiteness, tho that be not sufficient alone, but it must yield to the thumb when it is gently pinched towards the Crown: It's other good qualities consist in, that it is marvellously fruitful, and supplies almost the two whole Months of November and December; that its Pulp is extreamly tender, and full of Juice, which Juice is pretty sweet, and of a rich Taste; in that it grows not soft and pappy, as most other Pears do; and above all, in that it very much pleases his Majesty; but that is to be understood, when it has all the goodness it is capable of; for it seems to be like Children that are born with good inclinations, of whom it may be truly said, that if they be well Educated, those good Qualities improve in them to perfection, but if ill, they dege∣nerate and are corrupted; in the same manner, wet grounds makes this Pear very big, but at the same time very bad withal, giving it a green crude and wildish Tast, and a very peculiar sort of pulp not otherwise to be described, but by saying it is almost like congealed Oyl, it being true enough, that this pulp makes no continuous body, its parts hanging no more together, than so many grains of honey, or of wetted sand; but in re∣compence, the full Air and Standard Trees are very favourable to it, and would be more, if it stuck but a little faster than it does, to its Stalk: From whence 'tis easie to conclude that such as we see good of them, are of the growth of dry Soils, or at least of such other grounds as have been very carefully cultivated.

The Verte-Long, or Long Green, otherwise called the Mouille-Bouche, or Mouth-Moistner * of Autumn, is one of those Ancient Pears that all the World knows; of the two Names it bears, the first gives the true Description of its outside, and the other denotes its in∣ward goodness; it has a great many Friends, and, a great many Enemies, and those which are its Adversaries object against it, that it often comes unseasonably to mix it self in the company of the Lateward-Peaches, and among the Butter-Pears, that is to say, among ex∣cellent Pears endued with such charming Qualities that are able to Eclipse all that the Verte-Longue can shew to recommend it self, and even to perswade people they may very well be without it; they likewise find fault with it for being too apt to grow soft, and because unless it grow in a ground that's Dry and Sweet, it commonly is in danger of growing doughy, or at least of having but a faint and insipid Juice.

I confess indeed, That those are very powerful Reproaches, if they were altogether true, and inseparably affixed to this Pear; but we can answer, First, That we suppose in this place the ground to be favourable enough to produce good ones; in the second place we say, that the time of its Ripening is commonly about the middle of September, and that then the Butter-Pears are ordinarily gone and past, so that in that time, it often makes an agreeable interlude in consort with the last ripe Peaches, and particularly with the Mu∣scat-Grapes, in expectation of the Ripening of the Bergamot and Petit-Oin-Pears, which ought not to be long behind; for otherwise, we are reduced to make a shift with nothing else perhaps, but Messire Johns, Vine-Pear, Lansacs and Rousselins, &c. Which are all Pears that ought to hide themselves so long as any Verte-Longues, or Long-Greens are in being.

On the other side, if we please to do it the Justice to consider the great quantity, the Sweetness and Perfume of its Juice, with the delicacy and fineness of its Pulp, we cannot but confess we have no Pear that can dispute with it in those Qualities; nay, further I dare affirm, that it exceeds most other Pears in that wonderful abundance of Fruit, which as it were to confound its Enemies, it ordinarily presents us every year upon our Garden-Theater.

It is very certain, if it be never so little helped out with Sugar, as it is a Pear without any appearance of any Stony or Earthly Matter, and that has hardly any more skin nei∣ther than good Peaches, we shall find so many Reasons for it, and so few against it, that in Fine, in spite of all Objections, it will make it self be considered, as a very important Fruit in the time of its perfect Maturity.

The Dolphin, or Lansac Pear, called in some places, the Lichefrion, or Lick-Sweet of Au∣tumn, * has indeed some fine days, and some very foul ones: Its ordinary bigness is about that of Bergamets, and none but the little ones of this sort are good; its shape is between Round and Flat towards the Head, and a little longish towards the Stalk; its Colour is a pale Yellow; its Juice sugred, and a little perfumed; its Skin is smooth; its Pulp Yel∣lowish, Tender and Melting; its Eye or Crown Bigg, and even with the Body; its Page  96 Stalk strait, and pretty Long, Thick and Fleshy: And I have met with some of them that to my Tast, were almost perfectly good Pears; but as I said just now, that happens only when they are but of a midling bigness, and especially when their skin is almost all over covered, as I may say, with a Coat of Russet or Cinnamon Colour, which often hap∣pens to those that grow in dry grounds, or upon Tall Trees; for in any other Soil, or on any other sort of Tree, this sort of Pear proves Doughie, Inspid, and in a Word, one of the most imperfect Pears in Nature; which proves but too true in those that growing in Cold and Moist Soils, or particularly upon tufted and bushy Dwarf-trees, have acquired the bigness of a fair Messire-John, and a whitish green colour; from this then, it follows, that the Lansac is like the most part of the good Pears of which we have spoken, that is to say, That it succeeds not indeed every where, but yet is in an entire good disposition to do well, if it be happily planted; and therefore might well enough deserve a tolerable good place in a small Garden, if particularly it Ripened in any other Season but just at the beginning of November, which is so well stored with other Pears of the first Order; upon which consideration, we shall defer placing it, till we come to plant bigger Gardens.

But as to the seven other preceding ones, that, as one may say, make an admirable con∣sort of good Fruits, during the Months of November, December and January, having to se∣cond them, the Ambrets, the Leschasseries, the Thorn-pears, and above all, the Virgoulees, which seems to make in this body of Musick, a kind of continual Base, I say, in respect to those seven preceding Pears, I cannot deny but I am much puzled how to decide in what Order they ought to have admission into our Gardens, they are all so very good; yet if I had some of those good Soils which offend neither in too much driness nor moi∣sture, I would give my Voice to the Petit-Oin for the ninth place, to the Crasane, for the Tenth, the St. Germain, for the Eleventh, the Colmar, for the Twelfth, the Louise bonne, or Good Louise, for the Thirteenth, the Verte-Longue, or Long-Green, for the Fourteenth, and to the Marquise, or Marchioness, for the Fifteenth.

The Ninth Dwarf-tree. A First Petit-Oin. A.

The Tenth Dwarf-tree. A First Crasane. B.

The Eleventh Dwarf-tree. A First St. Germain. C. *

The Twelfth Dwarf-tree. A First Colmar. D.

The Thirteenth Dwarf-tree. A First Louise-bonne. E.

The Fourteenth Dwarf-tree. A First Verte-Longue. F.

The Fifteenth Dwarf-tree. A First Marchioness. G.

And that which is here to be Remarked by all the world (for ordinarily men are not Masters of such happy Soils) is, That of these seven sorts of Pears, there are two that are much afraid of a very dry ground, and require one that is moderately Moist, and they are the Crasane, and the St. Germain; but that, as for the other five sorts, they are of a quite opposite Temper, and succeed wonderfully well, where the two others mis∣carry; and again in their turn, become Objects of our pity, or rather of our Horrour and Aversion, in moist Soils, unless our industry and cultivation be very skillfully applied to correct that defect.

You may be pleased to take Notice, what for that purpose I have practised with good * success enough in the Kings Kitchin-Garden; The Scituation of the place which is natu∣rally Marshy, and the Temper of the Earth which is cold and gross, put me on upon making many Experiments, as I have said elsewhere; for I was absolutely minded to have of all those sorts of Pears, that really had any thing of worth to make them desira∣ble, and for that effect, striving particularly to content the palate of the Master I have the honour to serve, I endeavoured to lay in there a proportion of Molds of all sorts of Constitutions, to give those Pears the means to attain their due perfection: And there∣fore I raised a part of my ground into double Slopes and Ridges with convenient Fur∣rows and Gutters between, to drain them, and consequently to dry them from all super∣fluous Moisture; and planted upon the most Elevated parts of these Ridges or Slopes, as well in form of Dwarf, or Standard-trees, such sorts of Fruits that could the least endure humidity, and placed those others that find their Account better in a Scituation not so dry, in other parts which I had not raised so high.

The Counsel then that I take the Liberty to give to all curious persons, is, that, if their little Gardens offend in humidity, and they be minded to correct that Fault in them, they would imitate as far as they can in due proportion, what I have practised in a very great one; and on the other side, that they who have only a very dry Soil, if they please to believe me, would plant but few Crasane, or St. Germain-Pear-trees, unless it be upon Page  97 free-stocks, for fear otherwise, of a little biting sharpness in the first, and a little sowr∣ness in the second (tho both those Tasts are easily allayed with a little Sugar, or else vanish when those Fruits come to their full Ripeness) and would rather fix upon the five other sorts, which will amply recompense them for all their pains and care.

But those again who have ground that is moderately Moist, will do well to give some good places to some Dwarf-trees of the Crasane and St. Germain-Pears grafted, either upon free or Quince-stocks, and at the same time, to reject the Louise-Bonns, or Good-Louise, the Petit-Oins, and the Marchioness-pears, unless they plant Standard Trees of them, or take great care that nothing cover them from the heat of the Sun.

The short Eating Pears, which were formerly in such great Vogue in all Gardens, are so far from seeing themselves in favour at this day, that now no esteem at all is made neither of the Messire Johns, nor Dry-Martins, nor Portals, nor Besideries, and if they ap∣pear upon Noble Tables, it is not never to return any more, or to give any pleasure to the Taste; but only with design at most, to help towards a solid construction of Fruit-Py∣ramids there used for State or Shew. Yet notwithstanding all this, these kinds of Pears are not without some Patrons; and therefore as they are sensible they have still as much worth as ever they had formerly, they demand to be admitted to have the fair play to shew it with the best advantage to the world; to endeavour what they can to retrive their credit, and to be suffered at least to follow next those fifteen choice preceding Pears which have had all the honour of the First Gardens.

The Excellency of the Dry-Martin; which is sometimes called the Dry-Martin of Cham∣pagne, * to distinguish it from another that is called the Dry-Martin of Burgundy, does not consist in its being of the bigness and shape of a Russelet, so that in some places 'tis called the Winter Russelet (tho there be another Pear that having no other Name but that, takes it very ill the Dry Martin should so enviously usurp the Title from it.) Neither does it's Merit consist in that being tinged with an Isabella Red on the one side, and a very High Coloured Red on the other, it extreamly pleases the Eyes, for that would not be enough to carry the Prize in a contestation about the goodness of Fruits; but it lies first, in that it has a pulp that eats short, and that is pretty fine, together with a sugred Juice with a little smack of perfume; and in the second place, in that it has the advantage to be good to Eat with its skin and all, as is the true Russeles or Russetin, nay, and to be eaten too as soon almost as 'tis gathered; Thirdly, in that it is a Fruit of Great increase, and some∣times keeps pretty long, so that it is of some use in the Month of November; and lastly, that its Plant forms a very fine Dwarf-tree, and produces well in all sorts of Figures of Trees, and in all sorts of Grounds: And therefore I cannot but have some esteem for this Pear, and accordingly shall admit it to appear when we shall come to model the Planta∣tions of Great Gardens, and especially when we come to finish that of a hundred Trees; But in little ones it durst not presume to shew it self among so many other excellent tender Pears that come in as well as that in the Month of November.

As for the Messira-John, whether it be White or Grey (for they are both but the same sort) who is there that knows it not? It has not in Truth the Gift to please all the world: For those that like it not find Fault with its stoniness to which it is very Subject, and Objject against its rough and gross Pulp, which by this means it contracts, and that, with but too much Reason; yet methinks they lash out a little too far in their contempt of it; when they say, 'tis but a Pear for a Curate, a Burgess, or a Serving-man, or at most, a Pear for the Vulgar people; but whatsoever they are pleased to say, they cannot but confess however, in its justification, that as much as it dreads and abhors Grounds that are too dry, and Summers too burning hot, which make it small and despicable; so much it desires and delights in a Soil that is moderately moist, either by Nature, or by Art, that is to say Moist, by the the help of Watering; and so accommodated, in a Summer that is pretty mild, it infallibly prospers so as to grow a fair large Pear, and of great increase, thriving almost as well upon a Free, as upon a Quince-stock, and in the Form of a Standard-tree, as of a Dwarf: The shape of this Pear is flat, and its Skin is a little rough * in those that are Grey, but in those that are White, it is a little gentler, and in a short Eating Pulp, it yields a very sugred Juice, with a midling quantity of stony substance; and it may even be praised for so well nicking the time of its Ripening; for that, in fine, to avoid the confusion it might suffer if it should be so bold as to intrude into the Com∣pany of the tender and Butter-pears, to which it will not presume to compare it self, it stays just till the Russelets, the Butter-pears, and the Verte-longues, or Long-green-pears are past, and comes in a little before the middle of October, as 'twere only to amuse the cu∣rious, whilst the Marchionessos, Louise-bonnes, or Good Louise's and Petit-Oins are advancing towards their Maturity, and especially whilst the Bergamot is preparing to shew her self Page  98 with all the splendour and agreeableness that becomes the Queen of Pears: If this Messire-John had any better Reasons to produce, it would not fail to alledge them with the utmost advantage it could; and it desires we should count it for one Plea in its favour, that it is disposed well enough to form a goodly Dwarf-tree, and that its Fruit makes an Indifferent fine Figure in the Deserts of the Vacation Season.

It would not be just, if after we have spoken of the Messire-John, we should not say something too of the Portal, which is a Pear so famous in one of the greatest Provinces * in the Kingdom, that is to say of Poitou, a Province full of Gentry of very delicate Pa∣lats, and very curious in Matters of Gardening; such a proceeding would be publickly to reflect on them, as if they were grosly mistaken in the Esteem they make of their Portal-pear; or, I should put my self in danger of being accused by them of not knowing it well enough, if I should prefer many other Pears before it; but for all that, to speak of it with all possible sincerity, I must needs say, I know no Pear that has a greater num∣ber of Enemies than this, whose aversion is grounded upon all those Faults that discredit it in a great many places; as for Example, these that follow, Viz. That it is somewhat hard, stony and full of earthy and gritty substance; that it seldom comes to any good any where else but in Poitou, and especially in and about the City of Poitiers; that it seldom ever begins to be good to Eat, till it begins to have some speck of Rottenness, which cannot be said of any other Fruit; and lastly, that it is much of the Nature of Musk-Melons, that is to say, that for one Pear of this sort, that proves excellent, there are very many that are very far from it, besides that its Dwarf-trees are ordinarily of a very mean Beauty.

That which may be answered in its defence, is, That notwithstanding all these Re∣proaches, it cannot be disputed but that it has some good Qualities which are capable to procure it some consideration, when it has all the Goodness which belongs to it, and which ordinarily is not found but in such Pears of it as are of the product of Trees graft∣ed upon Free-stocks: It's sugred Juice its agreeable perfume, its bigness, its colour and its shape, which render it almost like a brown and very flat M•ssire-John, and its mellowing in the Months of January and February, &c. These Reasons might methinks sweeten peo∣ples * minds towards the Portal-pear, and induce them to consent I should give it a good place, especially considering withal, that, tho commonly it be better in Poitou than any where else, it is however true, that we have pretty often some in this Country that hard∣ly yield to them of Poitou in goodness; but that being something rare, I think it best for our purpose to leave the Gentlemen Poitevins in full Liberty to plant themselves as ma∣ny Trees as they please, of their so much beloved Pear, and to counsel my Querists every where else, to prefer many other Pears before them.

I have already placed fifteen sorts of Pear-trees, I shall next speak of those others that I still esteem beyond the Portal, to fill up the rest of the five and twenty, or thirty first places in Gardens of a midling extent.

You are without doubt surprised, that having above named in passing, the St. Augustine among the principal Pears, I have since made no more mention of it in order to the * placing it: The Truth of it is, this omission was made, not out of any forgetfulness, but only because of the time of its mellowing, which hapning together with so many others towards the end of December made me reckon this ill 〈…〉ing its season for a kind of Fault. I had formerly seen some under this Name, and under that of Pears of Pisa, which * I made no account of, because of their smallness, and particularly because of the hardness and dryness of their Pulp, tho a little Perfumed; but since that I have seen other very fair ones which I believe different from the former, and found them very good: They are of much about the bigness and shape of a fair Virgoulee-pear, that is to say, they are indifferent long, and pretty big, having their belly and also their lower part round, but * with some diminution of bigness as well on that side, as towards the Stalk; I should tell you, this stalk is rather long than short, and that it appears strait in some, and bent down∣wards in others, and yet not hollow set in the part out of which it comes; its Eye or Crown is pretty big, and somewhat sunk in wards; its colour is a fair Lemon-yellow, a little speckled, with a little blush of Red on that side next the Sun: The Pulp of it is ten∣der, without being butterish, and furnishes more Juice in the Mouth than it promised in cutting with the Knife; some of these Pears have a little smack of Sowrness in their Tast, which is so far from being displeasing, that it serves rather to give it the greater rellish; and some others of them have hardly any at all of it; I believe this Description sufficient to direct you how to know this Pear, which I assuredly esteem, but should prize it much more, if, as I was made to hope, it could be brought to keep till the Months of February and March: However, it may well deserve the sixteenth place, which I give it.

Page  99 The Sixteenth Dwarf-tree. A First St. Austin. *

The Seventeenth Dwarf-tree. A First Messire-John. A.

The Eighteenth Dwarf-tree. A Second Butter-pear. B.

This done, I thought I could not do better than to give the Seventeenth place to a first Messire-John; it being a pretty good Pear when it is large and full ripe; and the Eigh∣teenth place, to a second Butter-Pear, because in a Garden of Eighteen Dwarf-trees, it seems to me, that 'twould be too little to have but one Dwarf-tree of that sort.

And now here follows all at once a crowd of Pears of three several Seasons, which have every one their Partisans to demand in their favour the Nineteenth place in a Garden of Nineteen Trees: Viz. The little Muscat, or Musk-pear, which is one of the good Sum∣mer-pears, and comes in in the beginning of July; the Cuisse-Madame, or Lady-thigh; the Great Blanquet, or White-pear, and the lesser one; and the Long-tail'd Blanquet, and the Skin∣less Pear, the Muscat-Robert, the Gourmandine, or Greedy guts Pear, the Bourdon, the Amiret, the Hasty Russelet, or Russetin, the Finor and the Cyprus pear, &c. Which all follow the lit∣tle Muscat hard at the heels; The Orange-green-pear, for the End of July. The Musked Orange-pear, the Summer Thorn-pear, the Summer Bergamot, and the Pear d'Epargne, or Re∣serve-pear, for the middle of August; the Oignonnet, or Onionet-pear, the Fondante, or melt∣ing-pear of Brest, the Persume-pear, the Brutte-bonne, or Chew-good-pear, the two sorts of Summer Boncretiens, and the Cassolette, for the End of the same Month; the Salviati, the English-pear, the Reville, the Cat-pear of the Country of Foret, and the Flowery-Muscat, im September, the Brown-Orange-pear, the Russelin, the Fille-Dieu, or Daughter of Gods-pear, the Suggar-green-pear, and the Besi de la motte, in the Month of October and November, as also the Round-Milan, otherwise called the Winter-Milan-pear, the Arch-Duke, the Boncretien But∣ter-pear, the Ebergenit, and the Winter Messire-John, the Pastourelle, for November and De∣cember; the Ronville, the Great Musk-peor, the Chaumontel, and the Winter-Russelet, for Ja∣nuary and February, the St. Lezin, and the Bugi, for the Months of March and April, the Winter-Lemon-pear, otherwise called the Lucina, is not without having raised some affecti∣on towards it in some curious persons that love Fruits of a Perfumed Rellish: The Vine-pear in October, boasts it self to be so good in some places, that we cannot, as it believes, without the greatest injustice in the World refuse it admittance at least among the Nineteen, and the Spanish Boncretien, has it not, as one may say, some Adorers of its Beauty, and some of its Goodness? Nay, and the very Besidery, the Carmelite, the Ber∣nardiere, the Gilogile, the Cadet pear, the Double crowned-pear, and the Double-flowered pear could almost find in their Hearts too, to present their Petitions for Precedence before all those we have just now named: And the Admiral, the Rose-pear, the Malta-pear, the Maudlin-pear, the Catburnt-pear, the Black Sucrine or Black Sugred-pear, the Vilaine of Anjou, the Caillot rosat, or Rosie Pebble pear, the Thick tail'd pear, the Besie de Caissoy, and some others like them, have indeed some Goodness and some Reputation in some certain parts: But I do not believe they have Vanity enough to demand I should speak of them so soon, they will doubtless be contented to appear in the crowd of Fruits, and will without jealousie see many other Pears make a great Figure every where, whilst with little noise a part of them shall be allowed their place in some by-part in great Gardens, and shall serve at least to make there some tolerable variety.

The Pretensions of this last Troop of Pears, have indeed a while diverted me from the choice I design to make for our Nineteenth place, but have not made me change it; for I am now going to give the Honour of it to those for which, of all Pears, I think my self most obliged in this place to declare.

And that is not as yet, for the Little Muscat or Musked-pear, though seriously I infinite∣ly * esteem it, and it be really a very agreeable Pear, especially when it is pretty large, and it have time to grow yellow, that is, to ripen well. It comes alone, and almost the first of all; it is that which, as I may say, opens the Theater of good Fruits; all which Con∣siderations would be strong enough to gain me in its Favour, but that 'tis too small a Pear to take up so soon so great and precious a Place, and especially in the Figure of a Dwarf-tree, in which, no more than the Bergamot, it seldom meets with any success: It requires, without doubt, to be planted rather against Walls, and accordingly I shall take care to place it well in that Situation, when I shall come to treat of those Fruits that are to gar∣nish our Walls.

The Great Blanquet-pear, which is the true Musked Blanquet, and the Cuisse-Madam or Lady thigh pear, would have reason to be offended, if the Muscat should precede them, at least in the Form of a Dwarf-tree, though doubtless, and without Contradiction, they both Page  100 ought to give place to it, in that of a Wall-tree. And therefore I think 'tis most proper to give the Nineteenth place here to the Cuisse-Madam or Lady thigh, and the Twentieth to the Great Blanquet, rather than to any other.

The Nineteenth Dwarf-tree. A First Cuisse Madam, or Lady-thigh. A. *

The Twentieth Dwarf-tree. A First Great Blanquet. B.

The Cuisse-Madam or Lady thigh, is a kind of Russelet, its shape and colour being agree∣able to that sort of Pear; its Pulp is between short and tender, accompanied with an in∣different great abundance of Juice, having a small relish of Musk, and being very plea∣sant when it is full ripe; to which may be added another very favourable reason both for this Pear and the Great Blanquet; which is, that they both come to chear us, whilst the Peaches are a coming; and that they are the first Pears that are reasonably large and good, that we have in the Beginning of July. Their Plants form very fine Dwarf-trees, and the only fault I find in them is, that they are very hard to be brought to bear; but yet from the very first Moment they have once begun, they produce to a wonder.

The Great Blanquet, or White-pear, is very different from that which is simply called the Blanquet, or little Blanquet-pear, and is more forward in ripening by Fifteen Days; it is bigger and not so handsomly shaped for a Pear as the lesser one; it colours a little upon a Dwarf tree, and has a very short thick stack and a little hollow set: Its Wood, which is small, and its Leaf, are pretty like those of the Cuisse-Madam, or Lady-thigh, where∣as the Wood of the Little Blanquet is ordinarily very thick and pretty short; the Great Blanquet is likewise very different from the Long-tail'd Blanquet, which is a handsom Pear, whose Crown is pretty big and standing out; its belly round and pretty long towards the stalk, which is a little fleshy and pretty long, and bending downwards; its Skin very smooth, white, and sometimes a little coloured on the Sunny side; its Pulp is between short and tender, very fine, and very full of Juice, which is surged and very pleasant. It has the faults of most part of the Summer-pears, which are to have something of stony or earthy Relicks, and to become doughy when they are let to grow too ripe; this Pear, no more than the Great Blanquet are not yet very common, though they well deserve to be so: They succeed well, whether it be on Dwarf or Standard trees. I shall not be long before I place this Long-tail'd Blanquet. The white Colour which appears in the Skin of the three sorts of Pears, has occasioned their being called Blanquets or Blanched pears, which is the Name they bear.

The Cassolet having just now seen the Cuisse-Madam, and the Great Blanquet, or White-pear, pass before it, murmurs in earnest, because it is not preferr'd before them. It is a longish and greyish Pear, which is hardly inferior to any thing to the Robine-pear; neither in its Pulp, nor in its Juice, nor in its whole Excellence taken altogether, save only that is apt to grow soft, which happens not to the Robine-pear, and therefore it might well dispute these two last places, if it were as happy as the Cuisse-Madam, or Lady-thighs, and Blanquets or White Musked-pears, in well timing its Maturity; but it comes not in till about the middle of August, that is to say, with the Robine, and near about the beginning of the prin∣cipal Peaches, and in the prime of the Season of Figs, and of the best Plums, which we have by the means of Walls of Inclosure, which is, to come in too good company to partici∣pate so soon in the first honours of small Gardens, and therefore I defer the placing of it yet for some further time.

It is visible enough, that in this distribution of Places, I act as 'twere the part of a Ma∣ster of Ceremonies, who for the common good, aims particularly to order things so, that if in every season of the year we cannot have an abundance of good fruits, we may have at least a competent and reasonable quantity of them in proportion to the extent and quan∣tity of Ground in the Garden every one has, and particularly in proportion to the assistance which the Wall-trees should contribute for their part, upon which I count, and 'tis cer∣tain that had it not been for such prospects as these, I had already placed the Cassolet, and the Musked Summer Boncretien, &c. That which I intend then at present, is so exactly well to regulate and proportion all good fruits that every one of them in its rank, may have opportu∣nity to satisfie the obligation that seems to have been imposed upon them all, not only to give pleasure to man, but above all, to contribute to the preservation of his health.

And methinks we have appearance enough to perswade us, there is such an obligation laid on them: For in effect, is it not visible, in that Nature furnishes us more or less of fruits according as we are more or less attacked by external heat, which would otherwise be power∣ful enough to offend us? This is a Sovereign Remedy, and a Refreshment ready prepa∣red, which she presents us every year in the Critical time of our need: 'Tis for that rea∣son, that in the Month of August, that is to say, in the time of the most formidable heats of the Dog-days, we have such store of Musk-melons, Figs, Peaches, Plums, and even of Pears too:

Page  101 We see likewise that at the arrival of the rigorous cold, which ordinarily domineers from Mid-November, till February and March, we all finding our selves more sensible of the first on-set of the Frosts, are thereby constrained to approach so much the nearer the Fire, to defend our selves from them.

That external foreign heat so suddenly taken in, might without doubt so immoderately augment that which we have from Nature, that great Infirmities might from thence hap∣pen to us. But that this good Mother out of her ordinary Wisdom seems to have pro∣vided against them, by giving us precisely for that time, an admirable Quantity of tender Fruits, that is to say, of Bergamot-pears, Petit-oins, Crasannes, Louise-bonnes or Good-Louises, Leschasseries, Ambrets, Virgoulees, Thorn-pears, St. Germains, Colmars, St. Augustins, and in∣termixing with them even some of those short-eating and musked Pears, which are no bad Fruit, of which I have above spoken, as Amadots, Great Musk-pears, Dry Martins and Portals, besides all the Apples, as Calvilles, Pepins, Fenouillets or Fennel-apples, Cour-pendu's or Short-stalk'd Apples, &c. And we see the number of these divine Antidotes diminishes gradu∣ally, as we cease to have so great a necessity for them; that is, I mean as the great Cold approaches, which, if I may be so bold to say it, appears to me, to be the common Ene∣my of Mankind, and which particularly at the time that I am labouring most for the Mat∣ter I treat of, most Torments and Afflicts me.

'Tis not my part, nor yet is this a proper place to declaim here against this Cold; but if any advantage might redound to us by so doing, without doubt considering that it equally incommodes me every where, where-ever I meet with it, whether in my Body or my slender wit, or whether more particularly in our Gardens, and, above all, in regard of our Novelties. There should be nothing that I would not say or do, to banish a good part of it out of our Climates: For, humanly speaking, I have no kindness at all for the Cold, unless it be for some Icicles and a little Snow, which are the Relicks we have of it in its absence, and which we take great care to shut up in the close Prisons of our Ice∣houses; they being as it seems a sort of Criminals which have need of the Correction of a long Imprisonment, before they can be brought to a temper to be made serviceable for any good; And, in effect, there is a time when the Remains of those Persecutors of Men and Gardens, approve themselves to be very useful; for, in fine, during the troublesom heats of Summer, they bear the most delicious part in the Drink of Noble Persons. How∣ever, would to God, that without experimenting the Rigor of the Winters our selves, we could have Ice brought to us from the North, as we have Olives, Oranges, and so many other good Things from hot Countries.

I proceed all along according to the Design I proposed to my self, which is to contrive, as near as 'tis possible, that we may have in every Garden at least some one kind of good Fruit of every Season, and that from the Moment we begin to have any, there may be no discontinuation or interval till the return of Fruits again the next Year. We have the Cuisse-Madam, or Lady-thigh, about the middle of July, we may join to it for the One and Twentieth place, the Musked Bourdon, or rather the Muscat Robert, which makes the more agreeable Dwarf-tree of the two.