The recent discussion on the quality of the Kieffer pear raises the question, how many varieties of pear have been pronounced worthless because they have been permitted to overbear, that might have been pronounced delicious if the grower had the knowledge or disposition to thin the crop? And again, many of those which had stood the test of widespread popular experiment, have gained general approval simply because they will not attempt to do too much. Mr. B. O. Curtis, of the Illinois Horticultural Society, says that "many pear trees kill themselves by over-production. I have a notable example in the Beurre d'Anjou of a variety that never overbears and never blights. It annually produces a moderate crop, evenly distributed over the branches, a single fruit on a spur, not in clusters as it is with many other sorts. The fruit is large, of fine appearance and scarcely surpassed in quality."