La Poire de Vigne, i.e. the Vine-pear, by fome call'd Damoiselle, i. e, the Lady's Pear, and also la Longe queue d'Anjou, i. e. the Anjou Long-Tail; it is round, of a greyish brown Colour, very melting, and of an excellent rich Juice; the Stalk is extraordinary long; the Fruit fhould be gather'd before it be full ripe, otherwise it grows mealy and foon rots,

La Bergamotte d'Automne, i. e. the Autumn Bergamot, is a pretty large green Pear, a little rough coated, of a flat Make, and very melting; it ripens after 'tis gather'd from the Tree, and then changes its green to a yellowish Colour; it keeps pretty well. To bring this Fruit fair and good, and make the Tree give us good Wood, and confequently good Fruit, we must expose it to the rifing or fetting Sun, and by no means to the violent Heat of the South Sun, which would canker the Wood, and make the Fruit small and full of Cracks. It feldom anfwers our Expectations upon Dwarfs; but in that Cafe the Shoots must be prun'd long, if we expect our Wood well nourish'd and profitable; 'tis one of our beft Fruits, but we feldom find enough Trees of them in the Fruit Gardens. The Autumn-pears fhould always be more in number than the others, because its Fruit is almost half our Diet, and is wholfome. We fhould plant fome of this Kind of Bergamot to the Setting Sun; the Juice, indeed, will be lefs perfumed, but the sweet or fugar'd Tafte, which is the Glory of most Winter Fruits will make good the want of the high Flavour. The Water, or Juice of the Bergamot, is the coldest of all Fruits.

La Bergamotte Suiffe, i. e. the Bergamot of Switzerland, is fcarcer than the others; it is a flat made Fruit and very melting, ftreak'd with

green

green and yellow, and its Wood the fame; it bears well and covets a Wall, but little Sun. This Pear is no lefs good than curious, and is the forwardest of the Bergamots, and the very beft.

La Bergamotte Mufqué, i. e. the musk'd Bergamot, or la Poire du Colombier, i. e. the Dove Pear, or Poire de Sicile, i.e. the Sicilian Pear, or le petit Mufcat d'Automne, i. e. the little Autumn Mufcat, is a small dry Pear, very high flavour'd, a great Bearer, and makes an excellent Sweet

meat.

La Bergamotte bâtarde, i. e. the baftard Bergamot, is large and flat, ftreak'd with Grey, bears like Ropes of Onions, its Flefh brittle, of a pretty good Water, and fhould be gather'd a little before it ripens.

La Bergamotte tardive, i. e. the late Bergamot, or Bergamotte de Pâgues, i. e. the Eafter Bergamot, is more in Efteem than the former, becaufe of its long keeping, tho' its other Qualities are the fame; it is very common in Anjou, but very rare about Paris.

La belle & bonne, i. e. the fair and good Pear, is a large Pear, long and pointed, of a greyish red; the Flesh is tender and delicate, but must be eaten juft in Time, for it presently decays.

Le petit Oing, i. e. the little Lard Pear, is of a middle Size, almoft round, but of unequal Shape, rather green than yellow; it is one of the most melting delicate Pears, and bears very

well.

Le Befi d'Hery, i. e. the Wilding of Hery Foreft, is a round, yellow, rough coated Pear, of a middle Size, better baked than raw, having a Fennel-like Flavour, which is good in baked

Pears.

Pears. It comes from the Lower Brittany, from the Foreft of Hery, from whence it took its Name. Befy or Befier, fignifies Wilding in Brittany, Normandy, and feveral other Provinces.

Le Chat brulé, i. e. the burnt Cat, otherwife call'd la Pucelle de Xaintonge, i. e. the Xaintong Virgin, is a little longifh and pointed, very brown, melting, and of a rich Water; it presently grows mealy.

Le bec d'Oye, i. e. the Goofe-bill-pear, commonly call'd le Martin Sec de Bourgogne, i, e. the Burgundy dry Martin-pear, is a fmall Pear, almoft round, of a reddish brown; its Stalk is thick and long, it is a little melting, and is well tafted.

La Poire de St. Denis d'Angers, i. e. St. Denis of Angers Pear, is large, fair, long, and yellow; its Flefh is brittle and crackling, and its Juice richly fugar'd; it is much efteem'd about Anjou.

L'Amadote, i. e. the Amadot-pear, is flat fhaped, yellow, a rough Coat, dry and high flavour'd; it is fo call'd from being found first in a Wood in Burgundy, belonging to the Lady Oudotte; when it was wild its Wood was full of Thorns, but by cultivating it upon Quince Stocks, it lofes its Thorns, tho' upon free Stocks it retains them; but yet upon the free Stock the Fruit is preferable; it has more Juice, and is more melting, and may be placed among the best. This Fruit, as well as other dry and perfum'd Fruits, are much better upon dry Soils than upon wet and moift Land; the latter bringing large, but watry and infipid Fruit. Chiefly it should be obferv'd, that all of the melting or butter Pears, which feldom are very high flavour'd, fhould be planted in light Soils; and it has been an Obfer

vation worthy Notice, that the Beuree Pears, or those that are melting like the Thorn-pear, l'Echafferie, &c. are greatly improved by Graffing them upon the Amadotte; for the Juices or Sap of the Amadotte is musk'd and richly flavour'd; and the Beurees or melting Pears which are graffed upon it, are perfumed by it.

Poire St. Francois, i. e. the St. Francis-pear, is very large, long, and yellow; it bakes very well, but is rather too harsh to eat raw.

Poire de Ronville, i. e. the Ronville-pear, is large, long, and green; but grows yellow in ripening; it bakes well, but is extream good roafted in Wood Embers.

L'Epine Rofe, i. e. the Thorn Rofe, is of two Sorts, the earliest ripe is rather long than round and brings a fair large Fruit, intermixt with yellow and grey; it has a strong rofy Flavour. The latter Sort is fomewhat like the Portail, or Gatepear; it is flatter, and has lefs of the rofy Flavour than the forward Kind.

Poire de Lanfac, i. e. the Lanfack-pear, is alfo call'd la Dauphine, i. e. the Dauphin-pear, comes from a Village named Haze; it is a fmall, round, yellow, rough Pear, and one of the moft melting Sorts: "Tis efteem'd one of the best. It holds fit for eating a long time, even till January, if they are gather'd late; for they will hang upon the Tree after the Leaves are fallen, and till the hard Frofts begin; it is likewise call'd Franchipane d'Autumne, i. e. Autumn Franchipan, because of its rich fugar'd Juice, but better known by the Name of Dauphin Pear. Madame de Lanfac, who was Lady of Hazè, was Governess to the Dauphin of France, afterwards Lewis the Fourteenth, and in that Time it was named the Dauphin-pear.

Pears

I

Pears good in November.

N November is fit for eating the Virgouleufe, which came from the Village call'd Virgonlee, near Limoges in France, of which place the Baron of Chambray was Lord; fo that in that Country it is called the Chambrette; it is a large long green Pear, which grows yellow in ripening; it is one of the firmeft Beurees, and very good; it lafts fit for the Table a long Time, but muft not be kept close nor laid upon Deal-boards, or Straw, no more than the other Beurees, or melting Pears, which are apt to take the Tafte from any thing they touch: But they may fafely be laid upon Shelves made of Oak, or cover'd with Plaifter of Paris; or else if we have any particular Flavour which we would give them, we may perfume Skins of Leather to our liking, and lay these Pears upon them, they will foon take the Scent we design them. The Tree is one of the fairest of all the Pears, as well for the fine Verdure of its Leaves, as for its plenty of Sap, which pushes forth large and vigorous Shoots; therefore where a Tree dies or languishes, plant a Virgouleufe in its place, and it will foon fill the Vacancy: However one may have too many of them; but what I fay is only to inform a young Gardiner, that the Virgouleufe will fooner make good a Deficiency in a Plantation, than any other good Pear that I know of.

If we gather this Fruit before it is ripe it is apt to wither; it rather chooses to be cultivated as a Dwarf than in a Standard, for the Fruit is very tenderly join'd to the Tree, and a little Wind breaks it off; and if it hangs too long upon the Tree, it lofes of its Excellence