Marechal Vaillant

Fruit, very large, three inches and a half wide, and four inches long; obovate, uneven and undulating in its outline. Skin, yellowish green, mottled with patches and dots of brown russet. Eye, open and rather deeply set. Stalk, three-quarters of an inch long, very stout, deeply inserted. Flesh, half-melting, juicy, sweet, and richly flavoured, with a flavour of musk. An excellent pear; ripe in December.

This was raised by M. Boisbunel, of Rouen, and named in honour of Marshal Vaillant, President of the Horticultural Society of Paris.

Marie Benoist

Fruit, large, three inches long, and the 6ame in width; Bergamot-shaped, generally much swollen and higher one side of the stalk. Skin, very much covered with brown russet, the yellowish green ground colour appearing in mottles. Eye, small, open, and rather deeply set. Stalk, short and thick, rather obliquely inserted. Flesh, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet, and of a brisk perfumed flavour.

An excellent late pear; in use during January and February.

It was raised at Brissac (Maine-et-Loire) by M. Auguste Benoist, and named in compliment to his daughter.

Marianne Nouvelle. See Beurré Bosc. Marie Chrêtienne. See Marie Louise.

Marie Guisse

Fruit, large, four inches long, and three wide; pyriform, tapering gradually from the bulge to the apex, uneven, and rather ribbed and bossed towards the eye. Skin, green at first, but changing, as it attains maturity, to lemon-yellow, and occasionally with a tinge of brownish red on the side exposed to the sun, the whole covered with dark russet dots and specks. Eye, open, with long, broad segments, and set in an irregular depression. Stalk, an inch long, inserted on the end of the fruit, with a few plaits or ribs round it. Flesh, yellowish white, melting, juicy, sweet, and with an acidulous flavour and pleasant aroma. Mr. Blackmore says it is worthless at Teddington.

An excellent late pear; in use from February to March.

Raised by M. Guisse, at St. Ruffine, near Metz, and named by him in compliment to his daughter.

Marie Louise (Braddick's Field Standard; Marie Chrêtienne; Marie Louise Delcourt; Marie Louise Nova; Princess de Parme; Van Doncklelaar)

Fruit, large; oblong or pyriform. Skin, smooth, pale green, changing to yellow as it ripens, and marked with tracings of thin brown russet. Eye, small and open, set in a narrow and rather deep and uneven basin. Stalk, an inch and a half long, inserted without depression on one side of the apex, which is generally higher on one side than the other. Flesh, white, delicate, buttery, with an exceedingly rich, sweet, and vinous flavour.

A dessert pear of the highest merit; ripe in October and November.

The tree is hardy, vigorous, and succeeds well either as a standard or against a wall, and though the fruit is smaller from a standard than from a wall, it is richer in flavour. It is an uncertain bearer, and produces a great profusion of bloom, which tends to weaken the development of fruit. It has, therefore, been recommended to thin out all the small blooms with a pair of scissors, leaving only two or three on each spur. Mr. Blackmore's experience of it at Teddington is that it is "a very uncertain cropper. The fruit is too sweet, otherwise most excellent. On a wall it loses flavour."

This excellent variety was raised in 1809 by Abbe Duquesne, and named in honour of Marie Louise, the consort of Napoleon. It was sent to this country in 1816, by Dr. Van Mons, to Mr. Braddick, of Thames Ditton, without a name, and he planted it in a field as an open standard, where it succeeded so well and produced fruit so different in appearance to those growing against a wall that it was considered a distinct variety, and was named Braddick's Field Standard.

Marie Louise Delcourt. See Marie Louise. Marie Louise Nova. See Marie Louise.