PEARS.
We have no native species of pear, though we cultivate a number of varieties, imported from Europe, and some fine kinds have originated here. The original home of the wild pear was not far from that of the wild apple, but it has spread in two directions until it is a common forest tree in France, and from the Chinese forests it reaches north to Manchuria.
Special success has attended the efforts of the French and Dutch horticulturists to improve this fruit. Choice varieties were developed by monks
who trained the trees on walls so that the ripening fruit should have full benefit of the sun's heat, and defence against cold winds. This method pro duces fine pears in England, which has too cool a climate, and too little sun to ripen pears in any other way.