Yes it is very difficult pinning the old records down. Many of the old records are incomplete. The pears of New York is a good reference but it is still very difficult. Worden as an example was popular in New York Worden seckel pear . The first thing i do is look at the glowing reviews given in old books as a way to find out who was involved. Most records no longer exist. Im going through some old booklets looking for a possible clue on the precise dates of the giant seckle like this one on fireblight. Magness is ofcourse mentioned as it was heavily planted. Unfortunately nothing about the giant seckle. We have documented proof on numerous seckle pears. They were using seckle as one of their main breeding pears in those days. We are lacking the documentation on the breeding programs of those pears as it often predates records easily available.
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