Does anyone grow this variety? It is listed in old nursery catalogs in Eastern WA and is supposedly very good, rated first quality by many. I have tried getting it from corvallis but they don’t sell scions anymore.
Anyway here is a very good background on its history: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/162163#page/10/mode/1up
Pedigree is uncertain, but it looks like it could be related to Duchess d Angouleme, Easter Beurre, and/or Kieffer.
I cannot help you out much with this pear since it is fireblight susceptible. It is not one i grow at this time. The Idaho was aka Mrs. Mulkey’s Seedling. It can be seen and discussed in the book "The Pears of New York on Dec 18, 1996 as noted by corvallis former curator Postman, Joseph.
You have likely seen the pictures
There are used versions of the book available you referenced
"
You might wonder who miss Mulkey was " ====================================
In 1843, Wesley and Mary (Black) Mulkey departed from Platte Co., MO en-route to Oregon Territory. They subsequently settled in Washington Co., OR and remained there until after 1860.
By 1863, William & Mary Mulkey relocated to a homestead near Lewiston, Nez Perce Co., ID. While residing there, Mr. Mulkey established an orchard, a ferry and a mill.
In 1876, Mr. & Mrs. Mulkey sold their orchard to J. N. Lindsay (later proprietor of the Idaho Pear Company), and moved into town. There they remained through the end of summer, 1887–whereupon they relocated to Kansas City, MO, with the intention of continuing on to Lexington Junction, MO in October 1887. Those plans were cancelled on account of Wesley’s fatal accident, which occurred on the date of their scheduled departure for that place.
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Kansas City, Jackson Co., MO
Friday, 28 October 1887; p. 1"
I referred to the pears of new york and as follows is their description.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46994/46994-h/46994-h.htm
" IDAHO
1. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 572, Pl. II. 1888. 2. Can. Hort. 12:2, fig. 1, Pl. 1889. 3. Wickson Cal. Fruits 341. 1889. 4. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 477, fig. 691. 1897. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1899. 6. Rev. Hort. 60. 1901. 7. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:249. 1903.
There is much difference of opinion as to the value of Idaho in America. Without question, the variety is of considerable worth in parts of the Pacific Northwest, and especially in regions where hardihood is a prime requisite.[176] There, presumably, the fruits are larger and better flavored than in the East. As the accompanying plate shows, the pears are only medium in size on the grounds of this Station, but they are attractive in color and of excellent taste. The core is small, and the seeds are often abortive and sometimes wanting. The flesh is tender, buttery and almost free from granulation, with a rich, sweet, vinous flavor which make the rating for this fruit “good to very good.” In many regions the pears are large, rough, and gross—sometimes a facsimile of Duchesse d’Angoulême. The trees are dwarf and fruitful to a fault so that the pears often run small; they are hardier than those of almost any other pear and bear annually. To offset these good characters, however, the trees have the fatal fault of blighting, so that the variety is of value only in regions where blight is not an annual scourge of this fruit.
Idaho was raised from seed of an unknown variety about the year 1867 by a Mrs. Mulkey, Lewiston, Idaho, and, having been propagated by the Idaho Pear Company, was first brought to public notice in the autumn of 1886 by John H. Evans of Lewiston. In 1888 it was introduced to Europe and was shown at the congress of fruit growers held at Geneva, Switzerland, in 1899. Idaho is included in the American Pomological Society’s list of fruits recommended for general cultivation, having been added to this list in 1899.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, very productive; trunk smooth; branches slender, smooth, reddish-brown overspread with much gray scarf-skin, sprinkled with many small lenticels; branchlets dull brownish-red, overlaid with scarf-skin, smooth, glabrous, with small lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, conical, pointed, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2¾ in. long, 14⁄5 in. wide, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandular, finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long. Flower-buds short, conical, very plump, free, singly on short spurs; flowers showy, 1⅛ in. across, in dense racemes, average 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅛ in. long, pubescent.
Fruit matures in late September and October; medium in size, 2 in. long, 2⅛ in. wide, roundish, slightly pyriform, symmetrical; stem 1 in. long, thick, slightly curved; cavity acute, narrow, furrowed, slightly lipped; calyx closed; lobes broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, somewhat furrowed; skin thick and granular, tough, roughish; color dull lemon-yellow, tinged with green, dotted and streaked with russet, splashed with russet patches; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh dull white, tinged with yellow, firm, tender, buttery, juicy, sweet, rich, almost vinous; quality good to very good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds wide, acute."
The above documentation given is likely as good or better than anything else available.
Thanks. It seems like its susceptibility to fireblight is why it has fallen out of favor.
it sounds like it’s perfect for this region though.
Is Idaho available at all? I see our local Cherokee Nursery Company Catalog of 1893 stocks it…lol
