This character, russet on the skin, has been very puzzling to young pomologists in the study of pears, owing to its liability to exaggeration in some varieties, under the influence of certain climatic conditions that have even produced it in varieties in which it had not been previously suspected. Some pears are characterized by this russeting of the skin, either generally spread over the surface or confined to a limited area at either end of the fruit, particularly about the insertion of the stem; others have never shown any disposition to put on this character, but, under certain circumstances some varieties, which should have been smooth and fair, become thickly spread with this russeting, that seems even to thicken the skin and which deteriorates the qualities of the fruit. In some cases this appearance is local, occupying one end of the fruit, or making a band around the middle and contracting it like a cincture, as though its presence prevented the proper growth and development of the sarcocarp or fleshy mass of the fruit. The colors themselves being as various almost as the hues of the rainbow, will be designated by their appropriate or customary names; the manner of their laying on will require the use of certain definite terms, which should be understood to comprehend the classification, which, in part, depends upon this circumstance. Thus a fruit is called _self-colored_ when it is not striped, though it may be _blushed_ or _bronzed_, and the coloring may be so broken, without stripes, as to be _mixed_ or curdled, _blotched_, marbled, _mottled_, _clouded_, _spotted_, _stained_, _shaded_ or _dappled_; but some of these characters are often found associated with striping also, or they are observed in those kinds of fruit that are always devoid of stripes. Striped fruits are often so deeply colored that the separate stripes do not appear so distinctly, as when there are fewer of them on a lighter ground and they can scarcely be perceived. When the stripes are long and distinct, they are called _streaks_; when short and broken abruptly at their ends, the surface is said to be _splashed_. Certain pears are striped by a paleness or faintness of color, these are called _panache_, and are considered sports of their namesake varieties which they resemble in other respects. A few peaches are distinctly striped; some plums and cherries obscurely so. * * * * *