188.A great many new and excellent varieties of pears have been raised from seed in the Netherlands, by Dr. Van Mons of Brussels, Count Coloma of Malines, M. Louis Stoffels, also of Malines, and others. Dr. Van Mons informed the late Mr. Braddick that he had raised 80, 000 new pears, of which not many scores were worth growing. Mr. Braddick asked him, �if his own taste were called upon to decide the question, to which of all his new pears he would give the preference.� He immediately replied, with much vivacity, �the Beurre Spence;� and added, �this fruit, to my taste, is inestimable, and it has no competitor.� (Gard. Mag., vol. i. p. 145.) Mr. Bruddick has the merit of having been one of the first to introduce the best new Flemish pears into England; and, through his efforts and those of the London Horticultural Society, they are now common in all the British nurseries.
