Belle Lucrative is of Flemish origin. In 1831 it was growing in the London Horticultural Society's gardens at Chiswick, and was then described by Lindley as "another of the new Flemish pears." It had been taken to England by a Mr. Braddick who received the cions from M. Stoffels of Mechlin. By some writers it is considered probable that it originated with M. Stoffels, but the leading Belgian and French writers say that it was raised by Major Espéren, also of Mechlin, about 1827. In this country it first fruited in the Pomological Garden of Robert Manning, Salem, Massachusetts, in 1835 or 1836. The American Pomological Society added the variety to its fruit catalog-list in 1852 under the name Belle Lucrative. Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, rapid-growing, hardy, productive; branches smooth, grayish-brown mingled with red, covered with scarf-skin, with numerous elongated lenticels; branchlets slender, short, light brown, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with few small, inconspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, appressed. Leaves 3 in. long, 1-1/2 in. wide, stiff; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate, tipped with very small, sharp glands; petiole 2 in. long. Flower-buds conical, pointed, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers with an unpleasant odor, showy, 1-1/2 in. across, average 7 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1-1/16 in. long, thick, thinly pubescent. Fruit ripe in late September and October; medium in size, 2-3/8 in. long, 2-1/4 in. wide, obovate, conical, with sides unequal; stem 1-1/8 in. long; cavity very shallow and narrow, or lacking, the flesh drawn up about the base of the stem; calyx open, large; lobes long, narrow, acuminate; basin shallow, obtuse, smooth; skin thin, tender, smooth; color dull greenish-yellow, thickly sprinkled with small, russet dots, often overspread with russet around the basin; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, firm, fine-grained, crisp, buttery, juicy, sweet; quality very good. Core closed, abaxile; calyx-tube long, narrow, funnel-shaped; seeds narrow, plump, acute. [Illustration: BEURRÉ D'ANJOU] BEURRÉ D'ANJOU =1.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 136. 1841. =2.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 360. 1845. =3.= Hovey _Fr. Am._ =1=:61, Pl. 1851. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 53. 1852. =5.= _Flor. & Pom._ =5=:1, Pl. 1866. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 679, fig. 1869. =7.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 510. 1884. _Anjou._ =8.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1883. _Winter Meuris._ =9.= Lucas _Tafelbirnen_ 171, fig. 1894. _Nec plus Meuris._ =10.= Baltet _Cult. Fr._ 321, fig. 214. 1908. =11.= _Guide Prat._ 49, 282. 1895.