Jonghe pear aka Beurre de Jonghe.
Gets good reviews in the old literature as a top tier winter pear.
Is anybody growing this pear?
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The Pears of New York:
Ulysses P. Hedrick, 1921:
Chapter IV:
BEURRÉ DE JONGHE
1. Mag. Hort. 28:258. 1857. 2. Card. Chron. 147, fig. 1866. 3. Mas Le Verger 1:73, fig. 43. 1866-73. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 683. 1869. 5. Jour. Hort. N. S. 32:408. 1877. 6. Hogg Fruit Man. 522. 1884. 7. Guide Prat 64, 232. 1895. 8. Garden 49:225. 1896.
De Jonghe’s Butterbirne. 9. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 201. 1889.
A prime requisite in any pear of best quality is that there be no disagreeable after-taste in the flesh. The fruits of almost none of the winter pears meet this requirement. Almost all have more or less astringency in the after-taste. But the fruits of this variety are wholly free from this astringency and are, moreover, so sweet and rich that they are nearly as delectable as those of Seckel, the standard of excellence in quality. The pears ripen at Geneva in January and may be kept for a month or six weeks at a season when there are few other sweet, rich pears, the fruits of nearly all other pears of this season being vinous and piquant. The trees are hardy and productive, but are slow in coming in bearing, rather small, and not at all self-assertive and must be coddled somewhat. They are reported by many to do better on quince than on pear stocks. The variety is desirable only for the amateur.
According to Mas, the French pomologist, M. de Jonghe mentioned this pear in a pamphlet on new varieties published in 1865. It was described in the Magazine of Horticulture in 1857 as a new variety. In Gardener’s Chronicle, 1866, M. de Jonghe said that he saw this pear first in 1852 at Uccle, Belgium. The seedling had been planted there two years before.
Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, slow-growing, hardy, very productive; trunk slender, shaggy; branches reddish-brown overspread with thick scarf-skin; branch-lets thick, curved, short, with very short internodes, smooth except for the raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 2¾ in. long, 1½ in. wide, thick; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandular, finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, reddish-green. Flower-buds large, long, very plump, free; flowers 1¼ in. across, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels ½ in. long, thick.
Fruit ripe December to January; medium in size, 3 in. long, 2¼ in. wide, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, very regular; stem short, thick, inserted obliquely; cavity very shallow or none, the flesh often drawn up in a lip on one side of the stem; calyx small, open; basin shallow; skin thin; color dull yellow, thickly overspread with a pale, brownish-russet, often with traces of a russet-red blush; dots numerous, small, dull russet; flesh nearly white, fine-grained, melting, buttery, pleasant flavored, aromatic, sweet; quality very good.
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David- I think you saw branch damage of this variety from fireblight bacterium after you grafted it in? Anything else you can tell us about this pear?
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It survived. No fruit last year but some good-looking spurs so I’m hopeful. Ask me again in 6 weeks or so. Some of my pears are beginning to show color in the buds.
David
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I’m interested in this too since I would like a keeper pear. Any idea when you would pick the fruit?
Above, Hedrick says that in upstate New York they are to be picked Dec thru Jan; eaten Dec thru mid March.
Thanks! I missed that.
I was mistaken. That graft did not survive. I will attempt to get a scion for next year.