The Book of Pears and Plums; With Chapters on Cherries and Mulberries — Story, Setting & Ideas

From Orchard to Kitchen

The book's structure moves methodically from cultivation to consumption. After chapters on soil, planting, pruning, and pest control, Bartrum includes a section of receipts—recipes for baking, stewing, preserving, and pickling pears. These are drawn from Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery, slightly abridged, and are remarkably specific: one recipe for baked pears calls for a slow oven and five to six hours, costing an estimated fourpence. Another for preserving pears specifies a block-tin saucepan to avoid the need for cochineal coloring. The inclusion of costs and serving sizes suggests the book was aimed at household managers as well as gardeners.

Varieties Named and Described

Bartrum lists pear varieties with terse, evaluative notes. 'B. Alexandre Lucas is large and handsome; pyriform, the tree is a good grower (October, November).' 'Triomphe de Vienne is a large and handsome September pear tree (D. G.), grows and bears well, comparatively new.' He also mentions a new variety, Michaelmas Nelis, of which a specimen was sent by Messrs. Bunyard, and declares it 'as delicious as the Winter Nelis pear.' These entries reveal a network of nurserymen and trial gardens, and a focus on both appearance and seasonality. The abbreviations (D. G.) likely refer to dessert or garden use, though the text does not define them.

The Plum's Place

The plum section opens with a rhetorical question: 'What is the Finest Fruit?' Bartrum then traces the plum's origin, discusses soil and situation, and devotes separate subsections to gages, market plums, damsons, and bullaces. He includes practical advice on thinning, manures, and insect enemies, as well as methods for drying by evaporation and bottling. A recipe for plum jelly appears. The tone is brisk and directive, with lists of recommended sorts for different purposes. The section on 'Important Points' compresses key reminders, suggesting the author expected readers to consult specific parts as needed.

Cherries and Mulberries as Appendices

The chapters on cherries and mulberries are shorter and more condensed. The cherry chapter covers 'keeping' fruit, suitable soil, aspect, sorts recommended by the R.H.S. and Mr. Bunyard for eating, cooking, and market, plus protection, pruning, training, cherries on walls, insect attacks, distances, manures, marketing, and even the derivation of the word—all in a few pages. The mulberry chapter similarly compresses origin of the word, soil, situation, aspect, and shape. These sections function as concise references, relying on the authority of named experts rather than Bartrum's own experience, which he acknowledges is less extensive with these fruits.

Readers approaching this book for the first time will find it most useful as a reference to dip into rather than a narrative to follow straight through. The table of contents is detailed, and the variety lists are best consulted when selecting trees or diagnosing problems. Bartrum's voice is that of a seasoned practitioner who values precision and economy. The recipes and cost estimates ground the horticultural advice in everyday use, reminding us that these fruits were meant for the table as much as the orchard.

That rain fell all afternoon while I turned Bartrum’s pages on pears, his slow, patient sorting of varieties and soils. I closed the book, and my eye drifted to the shelf, landing somewhere quite unexpected: Peter Parley's Wonders of the Earth, Sea, and Sky — A Closer Reading. Both men just trusted the world to hold still long enough to be described honestly.