THE BONNE DES ZEES PEAR.

Bonne des Zees. Magazine of Horticulture, vol. xix. p. 205. Bonne d'Ezee, } Bonne des haies, } of some French Collections. Belle et Bonne de Zee, }

It is now some eight or ten years since we first saw this variety, and noticed it in the Magazine of Horticulture, (vol. xi. p. 205.) It was in September, 1844, when visiting the nursery of M. Jamin, in Paris, that we tasted the Bonne des Zees, and at that time we thought it one of the best of pears : true, we had not many others to compare with it, for at that period of the year there were but few ripe ; and in the absence of such varieties as the Cushing, Golden Beurre of Bilboa, Bartlett, Belle Lucrative, &c., which we have abundant enough here, but which we did not see in Paris, we might have forgotten their comparative merits. Still, we thought it excellent, and now, after a trial of it for four years, from our own collection, we think it fully sustains the high character we gave it in 1844. It somewhat resembles the Bartlett in shape and color, at least more so than any other variety we now recollect ; and it is superior to it in quality. The flesh is not so buttery, but it possesses a rich, somewhat vinous and highly aromatized flavor. It is a very handsome pear.

The origin of the Bonne des Zees is unknown to us; whether a French or Belgian variety we are not aware. We first saw the name in M. Jamin's Catalogue, and up to the present time it appears but partially disseminated abroad. There is some doubt about the proper mode of writing the name, some French catalogues denominating it the Bonne d'Ezee ; but we have adopted that under which we received it, and which is the one used by M. Jamin.

The tree is a moderately vigorous grower, making a very compact pyramidal head, even without the aid of the pruning-knife, which has only to be used to thin out its thick and branchy growth. It does not come into bearing very early on the pear, nor does it succeed very well on the quince.

Tree. — Moderately vigorous, upright, erect, and pyramidally formed. Wood. — Dull yellowish olive, dotted with large grayish white specks, moderately stout, and very short-jointed ; old wood, grayish olive ; annual shoots, short; buds, small, ovate, flattened, and sharply pointed : Flower-buds, small, tapering to a point.

Leaves. — Medium size, ovate, narrowing most to the point, light green, thin, considerably folded inwards, recurved on the midrib, and entire at the edge ; petioles, rather long, about one and a half inches in length, and moderately stout.

Flowers. — Medium size ; petals, ovate, cupped.

Fruit. — Large, about three and a half inches long, and two and a half in diameter : Form, obtuse pyramidal, full at the crown, blunt at the stem, and little enlarged on one side : Skin, fair, smooth, yellowish green, becoming lemon yellow when mature, beautifully mottled and clouded with pale red in the sun, somewhat russeted around the crown, and regularly covered with very large russet specks : Stem, rather short, about half an inch long, stout, little knobby, straight, and obliquely inserted in a scarcely perceptible cavity, surrounded with knobby projections : Eye, medium size, partially closed, and slightly depressed in a broad, shallow basin ; segments of the calyx, very short : Flesh, yellowish white, rather fine, melting, buttery and juicy : Flavor, rich, sprightly, perfumed and excellent : Core, large : Seeds, medium size, obovate.

Ripe in September, and keeps two or three weeks.

— C.M. Hovey, The Fruits of America (1852)

Bonne des Zoes.

i. McIntosh Bk. Card. 2:463. 1855.

Described as a recent introduction in England in 1855. Fruit medium; first; Sept.; tree productive, making a good standard.

[Additional entry in this volume: "Bonne des Zoës", pp. 498–498]

Bonne des Zoës. 1. McIntosh Bk. Gard. 2:463. 1855. Described as a recent introduction in England in 1855. Fruit medium; first; Sept.; tree productive, making a good standard.

— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)