is well known; and their beautiful aspects in pots,
and in the middle of a dessert, has been the glory of
one of the most generous encouragers of gardening
this age has produced, I mean the Right Honourable
the Lord Castlemain.”
From which it appears that the Nonpareil has
been in our Gardens above two hundred years.
Mr. Thompson remarks to us, that the French
do not seem to know what an English Nonpareil
is, notwithstanding the publication of their countryman
Duhamel, because Noisette speaks of it as
being very like the Reinette de Canada, only less
in all its parts : and further, th a t it is probable th a t
the Americans are unacquainted with it, for their
great writer, Coxe, speaks of what he calls the
Nonpareil in terms of no great praise, and figures it
with a very short thick stalk,—^a character the reverse
of th a t of the Nonpareil,, which has uniformly
a long slender stalk.
A good bearer, but rather a tender t r e e : the
fruit keeps well, with care, till May.
Wood slender, reddish chestnut, very slightly
downy, apt to canker in cold damp situations.
Leaves rather small, erect, oval, tapering to the
petiole, a little folded together.
Flowers middle-sized. P etals ovate, but
little imbricated; bright rose - colour when expanding.
Fruit approaching to middle-sized, flat, broadest
at the base. S talk slender, about an inch long.
S k in , when the fruit is fit for use, greenish yellow,
slightly coated with light ru s s e t; occasionally, if
much exposed to the sun, of a deep, rich, reddish
brown on one side.