Beurré d'Anjou is a standard market pear for late fall and early winter, its season lasting until well into January even in common storage. As an early winter pear, it has no superior and few equals in appearance and quality of fruit. In appearance, the pear is of distinct type--large, very uniform, the sides slightly unequal, smooth of skin, yellow, marked and dotted with russet, faintly blushed, and borne on a very short, thick stem. A fruit of this variety can never be mistaken for that of another. The internal characters are scarcely less notable than the external ones. The yellowish-white flesh is firm but tender, slightly granular, very juicy, sweet, spicy, with a rich, vinous flavor. Uniformity of shape and the smooth skin are marked and constant characters. In common with all varieties, the fruits of this pear are not always up to their best, but they are never poor in quality. The trees are vigorous, hardy, fairly free from blight, grow rapidly and come in bearing early, but have the serious fault of being uncertain croppers. In Europe and America, the trees thrive on the quince, and the variety is rated by all as a splendid one for dwarfing. Of all winter pears, none is more valuable for commercial or home orchards than Beurré d'Anjou. In particular, it is recommended for New York, where, possibly, it is more at home than in any other part of America. Beurré d'Anjou is an old French pear the origin of which is obscure, although it is supposed to have originated in the vicinity of Angers. Early in the nineteenth century it was introduced into England by Thomas Rivers, noted author and pomologist. The variety was introduced into this country by Colonel Wilder[25] of Boston about 1842, and first fruited with him in 1845. The American Pomological Society added Beurré d'Anjou to its list of fruits recommended for general cultivation in 1852. Tree large, vigorous, spreading, hardy, an uncertain bearer; trunk smooth; branches slightly zigzag, covered with gray scarf-skin over reddish-brown, with few small lenticels; branchlets long, with long internodes, reddish-brown tinged with green, smooth, glabrous, with many conspicuous, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, obtuse, nearly free. Leaves 3-1/2 in. long, 1-1/2 in. wide, elongated-oval, thin, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin nearly entire or crenate; petiole 2 in. long. Flower-buds large, long, conical, plump, free; flowers 1-3/8 in. across, showy, in dense clusters, from 8 to 12 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1/2 in. long, very thick, pubescent, green.