Continued
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Seckel
Breeder(s): none; it was a chance seedling discovered by a hunter known as “Dutch Jacob” sometime in the late 1700’s.
History: An American pear of pure P. communis heritage found in Pennsylvania. See entry in The Pears of New York.
Rootstocks used: Standard; probably ‘Bartlett’ seedling.
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is excellent, sweet with a spiciness that is often missing in store-bought specimens (when you can even find them in stores). Texture is smooth and buttery. The skin is tender and edible as well.
Fruit size: Small.
Fruit appearance: The color-plate in The Pears of New York doesn’t reflect what the fruit on my tree looked like. The fruit I grew had russet, but not completely covering the fruit like shown. The skin of the fruit on my tree, and on store-bought ‘Seckel’ pears was thin and mostly golden, with a small amount of russet and a beautiful red blush on the sunny side. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a cell phone back then and didn’t take photos.
Culinary characteristics: We never cooked them, but I’ve been told they make a baked pear to die for.
Storage characteristics: Said to store well- it is sometimes called the Christmas pear, but in the South they ripen well before Christmas, so get eaten before the Holidays come around.
Harvest season: End of August in Coal Mountain, GA, almost a month after ‘Spalding’.
Bloom season: Late; about a month after ‘Spalding’, which means in some years Seckel’s bloom period doesn’t overlap enough to use ‘Spalding’ as a pollinizer in the Georgia Piedmont region.
Diseases: Moderately susceptible to fireblight and pear leafspot. My tree produced for several years before dying of a combination of fireblight and Armallaria root rot.
Precocity: Very precocious; first bloomed in its 2nd year after planting and set its first fruit set in the 4th year on standard rootstock.
Productivity: Slightly below-average productivity in my orchard. Said to be self-fertile.
Growth habit: Not very vigorous; crotch angles relatively wide for a pear.
Bottom line: ‘Seckel’ pears are excellent for fresh eating, but not better than several other selections that ripen around the same time and provide better blight resistance. If you love that spicy flavor of a Seckel, I recommend that you try ‘‘Ayres’’ instead. It has a flavor almost indistinguishable from ‘Seckel’, yet has excellent blight resistance.
References other than my own experience:
Shinko
Breeder(s): ***.
History: Pure P. pyrifolia (Asian pear).
Rootstocks used: calleryana
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is mild, sweet with a touch of spiciness. Texture is crisp and juicy.
Fruit size: Medium-large.
Fruit appearance: Bright golden-yellow with prominent white lenticels- very attractive.
Culinary characteristics: We never cooked them.
Storage characteristics: I have insufficient experience in storing them, but the University of California says they will store about two months.
Harvest season: 1st week of September in Davis, CA. (I couldn’t find the ripening date in my records for Georgia.)
Bloom season: Early; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Resistant to fireblight and pear leafspot.
Precocity: Very precocious; first fruit set in *** year on calleryana rootstock.
Productivity: Very productive. One should thin the fruit aggressively or the trees will overbear, reducing fruit quality, size and health of the tree.
Growth habit: Naturally vigorous if fruit is kept off the tree, otherwise the trees will runt out if allowed to bear unchecked; crotch angles are wide for a pear, it is easy to train. If you are going to let this tree bear big crops early, I recommend using calleryana rootstock. The heavy fruiting will keep the tree size down. If you are stricter about thinning, then OHxF 513 is a good choice.
Bottom line: If you like Asian pears, this is a good choice for the Southeast.
References other than my own experience:
James Beutel. 1989. Asian Pears. Small Farm Center, University of California, Davis, CA.
Southern Queen
Breeder(s): ***.
History:
Rootstocks used: OHxF #513
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is sweet and juicy with a distinct sprightliness. Texture is smooth, but firm, not buttery. Need to be peeled due to the thick, russeted skin.
Fruit size: Small-medium. *** g/fruit
Fruit appearance: Beautiful pears completely covered with a golden-brown russet.
Culinary characteristics: Good for pies, if peeled. I haven’t made a varietal batch of preserves, but I suspect they would be very good.
Storage characteristics: Stores for at least 3 weeks in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: Mid-season in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: ***; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Very resistant to fireblight and pear leafspot. Susceptible to pear blister mite.
Precocity: Slow to come into bearing; first fruit set in *** year on ***rootstock.
Productivity: Very productive and an annual bearer, if thinned appropriately.
Growth habit: Moderately vigorous; crotch angles wide for a pear, thus requiring little pruning other than at the top of the tree; Dwarfing rootstock is highly recommended.
Bottom line: Recommended for the Southeast, but there are better quality pears if you are anywhere other than the worst part of the blight belt.
References other than my own experience:
Ethan Natelson, personal communication.
The Cloudforest Gardner.
Spalding
Breeder(s): University of Georgia.
History: ‘Spalding’ was a remnant of an extinct breeding program at the University of Georgia’s *** experiment station. As many breeding programs in the blight-prone Southeast, UGA had made crosses between blight-resistant P. pyrifolia selections and European pears. Most of the seedlings had died after the breeding program was abandoned, but they kept the Spalding tree because it was so healthy, productive and of superior quality to ‘Kieffer’ and other first-generation hybrid pears. Eventually, Daniell, *** and Krewer decided to release it to the public, named it ‘Spalding’ and published a description of the cultivar.
Rootstocks used: P. calleryana, OHxF #'s 51, 513 and 333.
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia, Apex, NC, Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is bland, slightly sweet with little acidity, but a nice perfume. In my opinion, they are better if eaten a bit firm because the crunch adds some interest to the eating experience. The fruits are juicy. Texture is smooth and the skin is thin. There are almost no grit cells in the flesh and when they are present, they are so near the small core that one rarely encounters them.
Fruit size: Medium-large. 226-610 g/fruit, though the larger end of this spectrum was from an espaliered tree that was thinned severely to maximize fruit size.
Fruit appearance: Beautiful smooth, russet-free bright yellow when fully ripe.
Culinary characteristics: Makes very good canned pears, pies and preserves, far superior to the Southern standard of ‘Kieffer’. Pies benefit from some additional flavor from spices and/or mixing in some apples due to the subtle flavor of ‘Spalding’. We made some nice cranberry/pear pies that were comprised mainly of ‘Spalding’, but were blended with other pears (and a few cranberries for color and acidity), but we haven’t used it as a varietal. We (and some friends of ours independently) made pear preserves from varietal ‘Spalding’ for several years and they were consistently the best pear preserves I’ve ever eaten. They capture the flavor aimed for in the traditional Southern recipe, but without the grit cells you’d get if you made them with ‘Kieffer’.
Storage characteristics: Stores for at least 6 weeks in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: Belongs to the second wave of pears, well after ‘Dabney’, but before ‘Mericourt’. This corresponds to early August in Cumming, GA and early-mid September in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: Early; a few days before, or with ‘Kieffer’ usually.
Diseases: Very good resistance to fireblight. The only person who has told me that their ‘Spalding’ was afflicted with blight was Dr. Ethan Natelson, a great resource for fruit-growing information, who lives in Houston, Texas, one of the few places that probably has higher blight pressure than Georgia and North Carolina. Spalding is quite resistant to pear leafspot as well. It is a very healthy tree in our climate.
Leafspot Scores of 4 Spalding pear trees in Coal Mountain community (Cumming, GA) as measured by % leaf retention in late October/ early November
Rootstock Year
1984 1985 1987
calleryana 80 50 80
OHxF #51 not measured (in nursery) 80 90
OHxF #51 not measured (in nursery) 20 100
OHxF #51 not measured (in nursery) 100 90
Precocity: Very precocious; on OHxF#51 rootstock, all three trees bloomed in their 2nd year and fruited in their 3rd year. Fruiting was delayed by one year when grafted onto calleryana rootstock.
Productivity: Very productive, definitely one of the most productive pears I’ve grown. Bears annually. Somewhat self-pollinizing and a good pollinizer for other cultivars with an overlapping bloom season.
Growth habit: Very vigorous; crotch angles wide for a pear- easily trained, especially when grown on dwarfing stock. Because of its vigor, it is highly recommended to grow ‘Spalding’ on dwarfing rootstock.
Bottom line: Highly recommended for the Southeast unless you can’t tolerate a bland pear.
References other than my own experience:
Daniell et al., 1982. Hortscience.
Ethan Natelson, personal communication
Starkrimson
Breeder(s): Thaddeus Clapp raised the original ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ seedling, but then Stark Bro’s Nursery found(?) and marketed a red branch sport as ‘Starkrimson’.
History: A sport of ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ found as a branch of red pears on a tree in Missouri in the 1950’s. For a more detailed history of ‘Clapp Favorite’, see the entry in The Pears of New York.
Rootstocks used: Quince, with unknown compatible interstem.
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is reputed to be very good, tasting like ‘Bartlett’. Texture is said to be smooth, with no grit cells. The texture was smooth, as reported, in the fruits I got from my tree. However, the quality was poor, probably because of the hot humid environment, of the possibility that I picked them before they were really ready. The tree died of fireblight before it could produce another crop, so my experience with the fruit was very limited. I have tasted ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ pears grown in Armstrong, British Columbia by Farmstrong Cider, and they were quite delicious.
Fruit size: Slightly larger than ‘Bartlett’.
Fruit appearance: Beautiful deep red fruit with a smooth, thin skin.
Culinary characteristics: I have no first-hand experience here, but it is reported to be poor for cooking.
Storage characteristics: No first-hand experience, but said to have poor keeping qualities, as is typical for an early-ripening pear.
Harvest season: Early, a week or more before ‘Bartlett’ in New York; around end of August-early September in Armstrong, BC, Canada; late June? (couldn’t find it in my records) in Georgia.
Bloom season: mid-late; full bloom date is a few days before ‘Seckel’ and almost a month after ‘Spalding’.
Diseases: Very susceptible to fireblight. Susceptible to pear leafspot. It retained 10%, 80%, 40%, 10%, and 0% of its leaves in 1982, '83, '84, '85 & '87 respectively.
Precocity: About average precocity on dwarfing rootstock; first fruit set in *** year on quince/ interstem rootstock. It may have been more precocious if it had been managed for precocity. I did not learn the pruning tricks to maximize precocity until later in my orcharding life.
Productivity: Reputed to be one of the most productive pear cultivars according to Hedrick. My tree only had one year of fruiting before fireblight killed it and it didn’t seem particularly productive.
Growth habit: Moderate vigor taking into account the roostock; crotch angles relatively wide for a pear.
Bottom line: Not recommended for the Southeast.
References other than my own experience:
Pete Petersen. 2009. Select Starkrimson Pears by their Crimson Color. The Oregonian.
U.P. Hedrick. 1921. The Pears of New York. Leading Varieties of Pears.
Tenn
Breeder(s): Brooks D. Drain, Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station.
History:
Rootstocks used: OHxF #513
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is tart, unusual for a pear, but balanced by sweetness. Texture is firm, but not crisp with smooth, grit-free juicy flesh. Good overall.
Fruit size: Small-medium. 120 g/fruit according to the University of Florida
Fruit appearance: Dull red blush over a greyish-green background. Skin is smooth.
Culinary characteristics: Its unusual tartness makes me wonder if it might be good for desserts. The tartness coupled with the juiciness suggests it might make an excellent blended perry, however both of these musings have not been tested by me or anyone else I’ve talked to.
Storage characteristics: Stores for at least 4 weeks in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: Mid-season (early September in northern Florida). Unfortunately, it comes up against several better pears (for fresh eating); Early-mid-September in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: Early; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Resistant to fireblight. Susceptible to pear blister mite. Somewhat resistant to pear leafspot.
Precocity: Like most Asian/European hybrid pears, it is precocious; first fruit set in *** year on OHxF 513 rootstock.
Productivity: Very productive, but with a tendency for biennial bearing. It is very important to thin these trees early an vigorously in the “on” years to ensure good annual crops.
Growth habit: Very vigorous; crotch angles quite narrow when the trees are young- be sure to spread the limbs while they are small and limber. Use the most dwarfing rootstock you can find. Really, OHxF #513 is not dwarfing enough.
References other than my own experience:
Treasure
Breeder(s): Discovered by Richard Fahey.
History: Chance seedling discovered near Oxford, New York.
Rootstocks used: OHxF #513
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is bland and sweet. Juicy. Peel unpalatable. Texture is buttery with few grit cells. Overall, I give it no more than a “fair” rating. If it ripened either much earlier or much later, it might get a better rating, but it ripens in the middle of pear season, when there are several much better pears available.
Fruit size: Medium-large. *** g/fruit
Fruit appearance: Attractive bright yellow with some fine russetting, but mostly smooth.
Culinary characteristics: Have not tried cooking them.
Storage characteristics: Stores for at least four weeks in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: Ripens with ‘Warren’; *** in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: ***; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Moderately susceptible to fireblight. I acquired scions of this pear because it was described by the originator as a blight-resistant, high-quality pear. Although it shows definitely more tolerance of blight than very susceptible cultivars like ‘Bartlett’, it does not have sufficient blight resistance to be worthwhile planting in the South. All of my trees died of fireblight within 10 years of planting. Moderately resistant to pear leafspot and pear blister mite.
Precocity: ***; first fruit set in *** year on ***rootstock.
Productivity: Fairly productive. We got *** kg/tree on average by their 5th year.
Growth habit: Moderate vigor; good, strong, wide crotch angles for a pear.
References other than my own experience:
Richard Fahey. Catholic Homesteading Movement scion list and personal communication.
Tsu Li
Breeder(s): unknown; ancient.
History: Origin is lost to time. It is thought to be a P. pyrifolia X P. ussuriensis hybrid known as P. X bretschneiderii. The University of California reports that the ‘Tsu Li’ sold in North America is not the same cultivar as the ‘Tsu Li’ grown in China.
Rootstocks used: P. betulafolia (re-check)
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchard A &.
Notes:
Fruit quality: My tree died of fireblight, but it is said to be sweet, juicy and mild, subacid in flavor with a crisp texture, rather like most Asian pears.
Fruit size: large. About 240 g/fruit according to the University of California.
Fruit appearance: Attractive apple-shaped fruit with golden-yellow, mostly smooth skin and prominent lenticels.
Culinary characteristics: I never got fruit to try.
Storage characteristics: Stores for about 4 months if held at 0°C/ 32°F. I’ve not found information regarding storage in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: Unknown from first-hand experience, but mid-late September in Hickman and Davis, CA.
Bloom season: Very early; a few days *** vs Spalding. For a comparison of bloom times with other Asian pears, click here.
Pollination: Ya Li or most other early-flowering pears pollinize it well. Tsu Li makes good pollen, but will not self-pollinize.
Diseases: Susceptible to fireblight. My tree died of fireblight. Resistant to pear leafspot.
Precocity: Less precocious than most Asian pears. The University of California stated that Tsu Li typically began to fruit in its 5th year after planting on standard rootstocks, whereas the other Asian cultivars tested began to fruit in their 4th year on the same stocks. In North Carolina, my tree first fruited in its *** year on ***rootstock.
Productivity: ***.
Growth habit: Very vigorous on “betch”; crotch angles wide for a pear; Dwarfing rootstock recommended, or at least P. calleryana.
References other than my own experience:
Dave Wilson Nursery
James Beutel. 1989. Asian Pears. Small Farm Center, University of California, Davis, CA.
Griggs and Iwakiri. 1977. Asian Pear Varieties in California.
Turnbull Giant
Breeder(s): Discovered by Lois Turnbull, Depew, Oklahoma next to a horse run.
History: Issued Plant Variety Patent# 4616 in 19xx by the United States Patent Office.
Rootstocks used: unknown standard stock; Said to be directly compatible with Provence quince [mis-named in the patent as “Providence”] and Cotonester acutifolia
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, GA.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Texture is supposedly crisp when the fruits are smaller, then soft when fully ripe. Mr. Tonge, cited below, sings this fruit’s praises, but many who have grown it do not share his opinion. A trusted fellow grower from South Georgia told me that he thought the name “Turnbull” came from the way its poor taste would make a bull turn and run from the fruit!
Fruit size: Very large. 454-1000 g/fruit
Fruit appearance: Roundish, apple-shaped.
Culinary characteristics: Originators claim it is great for salads, canned pears or any other purpose an apple might serve.
Storage characteristics: Said to be a good keeper in the patent description.
Harvest season: 10 days later than ‘Bartlett’ according to the patent.
Bloom season: I moved before my tree fruited, but I imagine its an early bloomer from its pedigree. Said to be self-fertile.
Diseases: Not as resistant to fireblight as nurseries selling this tree suggest. My tree grew well its first year, but was significantly damaged by blight in subsequent years. ***Pear leafspot.
Precocity: Said to be precocious. I moved away before my tree fruited.
Productivity: Said to be very productive.
Growth habit: Very vigorous;
References other than my own experience:
Peter Tonge. 1981. Christian Science Monitor [it should be noted that there are several errors in horticultural terms in this article, suggesting that the author and/or his editor don’t know much about fruit-growing. -ASC]
United States Patent Office. Patent PP4616.
Tyson
Breeder(s): none. It originated as “…a wilding found about 1794 in a hedge on the land of Jonathan Tyson, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania.”
History: see entry in The Pears of New York
Rootstocks used: Unknown standard (probably ‘Bartlett’ seedling) and OHxF 513.
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, GA and Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is mildly sweet. Texture is mushy in our climate. It got high praises in New York by Hedrick, but it ripens in the hot Summer in the South and it just can’t take it.
Fruit size: Small, slightly larger than ‘Seckel’. *** g/fruit
Fruit appearance: Attractive. Hedrick’s description is largely reflected by how they look when grown in the South.
Culinary characteristics: Unknown, we never tried cooking them.
Storage characteristics: Very poor. They keep less than a day at room temperature and in common refrigeration only prevents the transition to unpalatable mush by about a day.
Harvest season: Early. July in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: ***; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Moderately resistant to fireblight. Somewhat susceptible to pear leafspot. While in the Georgia orchard, it seemed tolerant because it retained 60%, 90%, 50%, 90%, and 100% of its leaves in 1982, '83, '84, '85 & '87 respectively, it must be kept in mind that the tree was very on standard stock and I used to prune more aggressively, both of which contributed to the tree being comprised of young wood for a prolonged period. Almost all cultivars are more tolerant of leafspot when they are vigorously growing and then become more susceptible when they settle down and start producing fruit.
Precocity: Very slow to come into bearing, especially on standard rootstock. My standard tree never bore before I moved away. My dwarf tree bore it’s first fruit set in *** year on OHxF 513 rootstock.
Productivity: Not very productive, but perhaps that got better with age. My trees were so slow to come into bearing that I only saw how much my dwarf tree bore in its first year of trying to bear.
Growth habit: Very vigorous and rangy on standard rootstock, with thin limbs climbing, then flopping; Dwarfing rootstock is a must with this cultivar. Festooning and/ or trellising are also highly , if you insist on trying to grow ‘Tyson’ in the Southeast.
I don’t recommend ‘Tyson’ for the Southeast. Enjoy the peaches of Summer and wait for better pears in the Fall.
References other than my own experience:
U.P. Hedrick. 1921. The Pears of New York. Chapter IV. Leading Varieties of Pears. ‘Tyson’.
Waite
Breeder(s): Merton B. Waite.
History: Named for Merton B. Waite, the first person to establish a pear breeding program for resistance to blight (in 1908) and the first to conduct research on blight. ‘Waite’ is of unknown heritage, but was released in 1938.
Rootstocks used: OHxF #513 and P. calleryana.
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchards A & B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is unmemorable to me, as I’ve only eaten a few fruit. I don’t hear anyone raving about the flavor. Texture is fairly smooth, with a few grit cells.
Fruit size: Large. *** g/fruit
Fruit appearance: ***.
Culinary characteristics: Some sources thought it was very good for canning, leading to an alternative name for it, ‘Canner’. The Georgia state extension service did a thorough evaluation in 1966. Check out the results here. As you will see, they only rated it “good” for processing.
Storage characteristics: Stores for at least *** in common refrigeration.
Harvest season: *** in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: ***; a few days *** vs Spalding
Pollination: Sterile pollen, so won’t pollinate other cultivars. Needs a pollinizer.
Diseases: Resistant to fireblight, pear blister mite and pear leafspot. For a comparison of resistance among several Southern cultivars regarding fireblight & leafspot, see this publication by the Georgia Extension Service.
Precocity: ***; first fruit set in *** year on ***rootstock.
Productivity: ***.
Growth habit: Moderate Vigor; upright growth habit; narrow crotch angles, but trainable; Dwarfing rootstock recommended
Bottom line: Recommeded for trial in the Southeast.
References other than my own experience:
Van der Zwet and H. Keil. 1979. Fireblight: A bacterial disease of Rosaceous plants. Handbook No. 150
Warren
Breeder(s): Unclear. Found at an abandoned research station in Mississippi.
History: Discovered by Thomas Oscar (T.O.) Warren in an abandoned experimental orchard in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in the mid-1970’s. It probably resulted from a ‘Giant Seckel’ X ‘Comice’ cross. Some have claimed that ‘Warren’ is identical to ‘Magness’, and they appear to have originated from the same cross, so they may be siblings. They both have similar growth habits, ripening season and fruit characteristics, including flavor profile. However, I believe that this is fake news for several reasons, including ‘Warren’ does not appear field-susceptible to trunk infections of fireblight, and a molecular assay done by Oregon State University scientists showed that while it was related to ‘Magness’, ‘Warren’ is distinct (Karp. 2011).
Rootstocks used: Provence quince (Georgia), OHxF 513 (North Carolina), calleryana (both states).
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia, Apex, NC; Pittsboro, NC orchards A & B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Wonderful, ‘Comice’-like fruit with sweet, aromatic, buttery-soft flesh and tender skin. Some have called it “…the most delicious American pear…”, others "Arguably, the most delicious pear variety in the world (LA Times) and it has been praised publicly by Alice Waters and Oprah Winfrey among others. I have noticed a reduction in quality if the trees are overcropped or grown in partial shade, but those factors will reduce fruit quality in most pears.
Fruit size: Medium-large. *** g/fruit.
Fruit appearance: Attractive yellowish-green when fully ripe with a bright red blush; some russet, but mostly smooth skin.
Culinary characteristics: We’ve never cooked them.
Storage characteristics: At least a month in a common household crisper. They tend to be eaten quickly, so I really haven’t been able to push the storage limits with this one.
Harvest season: Mid-season; mid-August through early September in Cumming, GA, or about 3 weeks after ‘Spalding’. *** in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: In my experience, ***vs ‘Spalding’
Diseases: Very resistant to fireblight. Some of my ‘Warren’ trees were next to specimens of other cultivars that were actually killed to the ground by blight, yet the ‘Warren’ had only minor damage. Somewhat resistant to pear leaf spot and pear blister mite. It retained 100%, 100%, 40%, 10%, and 80% of its leaves in 1982, '83, '84, '85 & '87 respectively.
Precocity: not very precocious; first fruit set in 6th year on Provence quince rootstock.
Productivity: Generally low productivity, but can be very productive in some years, suggesting that a reliable cropping system could be developed. Performed well for me at a 2 foot spacing on OHxF 513.
Growth habit: Relatively good, wide crotch angles and modest vigor.
Bottom line: I recommend it for both backyard and commercial production in the Southeastern U.S. ‘Warren’ is already grown commercially on small acreage in California (and perhaps elsewhere).
References other than my own experience: http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Warren_Pears_8181.php David Karp. 2011. L.A. Times.
Wilder Early
Breeder(s): Chance seedling found by Charles A. Green, Rochester, New York, about 1884, in Chautauqua County, New York.
History: see entry in The Pears of New York
Rootstocks used: OHxF#'s 333 & 513.
Orchards grown in: Pittsboro, NC orchard B.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is sweet, with a touch of sprightly that one suspects would be enhanced if the fruit were ripening in an area with cooler temperatures. Texture is very briefly buttery, with some fibrousness, however, because this pear ripens during the intense heat of the Summer in the Southeast, they turn to mush about a day after they are picking ripe. The area around the core is the first to breakdown, so it is wise to make shallow bites when eating a southern-grown ‘Wilder Early’. Overall, the best-tasting pear of its season in the Southeast, in my opinion. However, it makes more sense to me to enjoy the summer fruits in the summer, like peaches and plums and wait until Fall to get the better pears on offer later in the year. In 2009, median Brix was 16, following year was 14.6 (these measurements were taken from individual fruit borne by the same tree in the two subsequent years).
Fruit size: Small-medium. 124 g/fruit in 2009 & 128 g/fruit in 2010.
Fruit appearance: Beautiful golden with a bright red blush and prominent lenticels.
Culinary characteristics: We have never cooked them.
Storage characteristics: Very poor. Even if put immediately in the refrigerator, you will extend their useful life by only a couple of days.
Harvest season: mid-late June in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: ***; a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Moderately susceptible to fireblight. One of my trees was so severely infected with fireblight that I put it out of its misery and removed it. The other was badly affected in the same epiphytotic year, but with aggressive pruning to remove the infected tissue, the tree came back and continued producing, after a one-year recovery. Somewhat resistant to pear leafspot.
Precocity: Bears young; first fruit set in *** year on ***rootstock.
Productivity: Productivity was limited by the necessity to remove fireblight damage. In the best of years, these trees were moderately productive, about *** kg/tree.
Growth habit: ***Vigor; wide crotch angles for a pear with nicely-spaced scaffolds seeming to come naturally to this cultivar.; ***rootstock recommended
References other than my own experience:
U.P. Hedrick. 1921. The Pears of New York. Chapter IV. Leading Varieties of Pears. ‘Wilder Early’.
Winter Nelis
Breeder(s): Jean Charles Nelis, Mechlin, Belgium in the early 1800’s.
History: see entry in The Pears of New York
Rootstocks used: Angers quince, presumably with an ‘Old Home’ interstem.
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, GA.
Notes:
Fruit quality: My tree died of fireblight when it was too young to fruit. Hedrick describes it as, “The flesh is tender, melting, juicy, luscious, with a rich, sweet, aromatic flavor one of the most delectable of all pears.”
Storage characteristics: Said to keep and ship well.
Harvest season: Late, in New York.
Bloom season: late.
Diseases: Hedrick said it was quite tolerant of fireblight, thus convincing me to plant it in Georgia. In Georgia’s heat- and humidity-fueled intense blight pressure, my tree quickly succumbed to blight in its 4th year of growth. I didn’t get a chance to observe it much with regard to leafspot resistance. It retained 100% of its leaves in 1984, but only 20% the following year.
Precocity: no first-hand information.
Productivity: Hedrick says it is productive.
Growth habit: Rangy, floppy growth and many narrow crotch angles; I don’t recommend trying ‘Winter Nelis’ at all in the Southeast due to its susceptibility to blight, but if you insist, I strongly recommend using the most dwarfing rootstock you can find (currently either quince with an interstem to get around Winter Nelis’ incompatibility with quince or Old Home x Farmingdale #513) AND festooning frequently or trellising coupled with festooning. Also see old pruning recommendations from Hedrick.
References other than my own experience:
U.P. Hedrick. 1921. The Pears of New York. Chapter IV. Leading Varieties of Pears. ‘Winter Nelis’.
Wolfe County
Breeder(s): not applicable.
History: Chance seedling discovered by a classmate of mine at Berea College, Berea, KY. I can’t remember his name. He found the isolated tree while wandering in Wolfe County, Kentucky. I suspect from his description that it was a seedling of ‘Kieffer’.
Rootstocks used: P. calleryana
Orchards grown in: Coal Mountain, Georgia, USA.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is said to be sweet. Texture is said to be crisp and juicy. (My trees died before they fruited.)
Fruit size: Said to be very large, about like ‘Kieffer’
Fruit appearance: Unknown.
Culinary characteristics: Unknown.
Storage characteristics: Unknown.
Harvest season: Said to be late.
Bloom season: Unknown
Diseases: Susceptible to fireblight. I grafted several trees, but they all died as juveniles of fireblight. If it is a ‘Kieffer’ seedling, it does not retain its parent’s level of blight resistance.
Precocity: Unknown.
Productivity: Original tree said to be very productive. Mine did not fruit because they died of fireblight.
Growth habit: Poor vigor for a supposed Asian hybrid.
Unlikely that the average person will encounter this cultivar, but regardless it is not recommended for planting in the Southeastern U.S. and due to its many faults and lack of redeeming fruit characteristics, it will be no loss to pomology for this cultivar to go extinct. References other than my own experience:
Ya Li
Breeder(s): Unknown. Probably a chance seedling.
History: 'Ya Li’s origin is lost to time. It is thought to be a P. pyrifolia X P. ussuriensis hybrid known as P. X bretschneiderii.
Rootstocks used: P. betulafolia
Orchards grown in: Apex, NC; Pittsboro, NC orchard A.
Notes:
Fruit quality: Flavor is mild, juicy and bland. Texture is crisp. Rated as one of the best-flavored Chinese pears by the native Chinese author, C.C. Hu in 1937. He described it as sweet, slightly tart, juicy and crisp. Hmmm. Your mileage may vary.
Fruit size: Medium-large. Just under 200 g/fruit according to the University of California.
Fruit appearance: Pyriform, with very light beige skin.
Culinary characteristics: Unknown, never enough fruit to spare for cooking.
Storage characteristics: Three months if held at 0°C according to the University of California.
Harvest season: September 8 through 23 at Davis, CA. *** in Pittsboro, NC.
Bloom season: Very early; always one of the first to bloom, after, perhaps ‘Meadows’, though I did not grow them side-by-side in the same orchard. a few days *** vs Spalding
Diseases: Susceptible to fireblight. Fireblight was a significant factor that reduced yield in Pittsboro. Significant damage from Pear Rust on fruit. Resistant to pear leafspot.
Precocity: Oddly, for an Asian pear, ‘Ya Li’ is not very precocious, though this could mostly be due to the rootstock; first fruit set in *** year on betulafolia rootstock.
Productivity: Not very productive at either site. Chinese friends of mine tell me that this is also true in China, where large acreages of Ya Li are grown.
Growth habit: Vigorous, at least on P. betulafolia; crotch angles often broad, for a pear; dwarfing rootstock recommended
References other than my own experience:
Griggs and Iwakiri. 1977. Asian Pear Varieties in California.