Anyone growing Sheldon Pear? It was historically planted in Maine and I’ve found a couple trees which might be a match
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You are coming up with some very rare pears. It should be a higher quality than most. I do not grow it but that does look like Sheldon except Sheldon should be mid season. When was this photo taken? It also looks smaller than normal. I would like to get scion wood of that pear in the photo if possible in Feb . Thank you!
Sheldon’
Type: Cultivar name
EUROPEAN CULTIVAR
Type: Site identifier
Group: CROPTYPE
CPYR 2107
Type: Other or unclassified name
Group: LOCAL
Corvallis local number
Narrative
Full description and color plate in Hedrick (1921). Developed from a seed grown by Major Sheldon, Huron, New York. Added to the APS catalog list in 1856. Fruit medium or larger in size, roundish, slightly turbinate and truncated at the base. Skin thick, somewhat granular, tender, dull yellowish-green in color, overspread with light russet, sometimes blushed, numerous dots, not particularly attractive. Flesh white, slightly granular, buttery or melting, very juicy. Sweet, aromatic, vinous flavor, rates among the best in dessert quality. Midseason. Tree sturdy, vigorous, upright grower, moderately productive. Fairly susceptible to fireblight. – H. Hartman, Oregon Agr. Experiment Station, 1957.
One of my favorites for the home garden. With Sheldon, the pears may be picked when they first start to fall. This pear has a green skin thickly covered with fine russet dots turning a fawn gold when fully ripe. Medium to large in size, the shape is beautifully uniform and symmetrical like that of a large truncated top with a thick stem. The flesh is white, very juicy, melting, sweet, with a delicious, delicately spicy flavor. As Hedrick truly said, ‘The flesh is melting and juicy, and deserves more than that of almost any other pear, the adjective luscious.’ They are ready for eating as soon as the flesh yields to firm pressure. – Robert Nitschke, Southmeadow Fruit Gardens Catalog, 1976.
Sheldon. Origin New York. Medium or large, roundish, obtuse obovate; skin greenish yellow, covered with thin russet, a little brownish crimson with russet dots on exposed side; stalk short, stout; cavity deep; calyx open. Flesh whitish, sweet, very juicy, melting, vinous, texture rather coarse; very good; October. Tree vigorous; it requires double working on quince. (Description from Brackett. ‘The Pear and How to Grow It’, USDA Farmers’ Bulletin 482.) – Pear Growing in California, Weldon, 1918.
From the website https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail?id=1436439
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Yes, according to Cummins I am, but it isn’t russeted.
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I collected scionwood from the historic Sheldon tree if anyone wants some
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In the current Schlabachs catalog.
“Best of all pears” in description
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Remarkable story- 4 seeds were planted from Judge Johnson’s fruits and all 4 trees were identical so it seems.
Also remarkable is the storytelling and writing skills of folks in the mid 1800s
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Sheldon was genotyped by Corvallis and is Anjou x Bartlett
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Interesting.
IF the history that was written is true.
The seeds that produced the Sheldon Pear were planted in 1815.
The Anjou pear was introduced to the US in 1842.
Bartlett was distributed in 1812 after being named by Enoch Bartlett. Before that it was Williams or Williams Christ pear?
Further history also confirms the seeds being obtained from Judge Johnson
The Sheldon family came to Wayne County in 1809. They had stopped with Judge Johnson in Dutchess County where they had pear seeds given to them by the Judge. From these seeds grew what became known as the Sheldon pear.
So in order for the genotype to be true Judge Johnson would have had to have those trees on his farm pre-history for the most part and likely of course several if not many years before the obtaining of the seed in order for those trees to be mature enough to be fruit bearing and cross pollinating.
So perhaps Judge Johnson obtained trees from Europe before others did.
Or the samples that were genotyped werent the old true named Sheldon.
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bartlett was discovered in england and came to the us 1797
Anjou was introduced in England early nineteenth century from France, so presumably the seeds came from England and planted in US
seeds that became the sheldon tree planted in 1815
from Pears of New York
https://www.chathamapples.com/PearsNY/MajorPears.html
it is possible the Sheldon tree at Corvallis is mis-identified but of the 2000 accessions genotyped in the Montanari paper only a small percentage were wrong
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Or…
Perhaps a better history is that Williams was imported by James Carter in 1799 and planted on the grounds of Thomas Brewer in Roxbury Mass… which they would remain until Enoch Bartlett acqured the estate at a later date.
Williams (were imported into the US from Europe in 1828) it wasnt until then that it was deterimined that Williams and Bartlett were the same.
So. In order for Judge Johnson to have those trees in New York… from an estate in Mass is possible… but the time frame is very tight in order for all that to happen i think.
There is roughly a 10 year window as far as i can tell for Williams (Bartlett) to get from James Carter’s trees that were planted in Massachusetts to the Orchards of Judge Johnson in New York in order for those seeds to happen to create Sheldon.
The only way that i can see it working is if Judge Johnson was more diligent than @clarkinks to get obscure pears on his farm.
Bartlett- Found growing in the town of Aldermaston England of a man named John Stair. So it was both the Aldermaston pear and the Stair pear. This was 1770s. A nurseryman named Williams acquired it at a later date and distributed it throughout England and named it for himself.
If Judge Johnson ‘had a guy’… that was similar to James Carter and got his trees from England at that earliest point and directly planted them on his farm as Williams… then the narrative could fit i think.
That history is even worse for the genotype… as your snippet says that this cultivar came into the US in 1842 and fruited in 1845
That does not fit the window of time.
If the genotype is true. Then the history of Anjou in the US is incorrect.
So Judge Johnson would have had to have obtained his Anjou from Belgium before its own discovery in order for the genotype to be true.
I have Gem going which Dr Bell crossed Sheldon and something else in 1970… so i figure at least he had a true to name sample back then.
what is very interesting is the Gem accession from the Corvallis genotyping study is nothing like the Gem Hort Sci paper, so there is a mistake somewhere
per Corvallis, their Gem is
Per the Gem paper, it has moonglow and sheldon (and seckel, comice, bartlett and roi charles du wurtemburg) but none of these were seen in the genotyping study
so someone is wrong at least with Gem
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If you ask me… the two examples from them… the Sheldon and the Gem most likely have to be incorrect.
Here is more information on Gem from the USDA
The more i read the worse it gets as far as wanting to grow it.
(Warning of language in description that reflects the time period)
https://www.chathamapples.com/PearsNY/MajorPears.html#Sheldon
Gem was discussed here in this forum as not being that desirable due to being crunchy…
But the USDA article seems to go further into that…
Gem requires at least 3 weeks of cold storage before normal fruit softening, but it will last for at least 28 weeks in cold storage without core breakdown or superficial scald. The fruit can also be eaten immediately after harvest without softening, as it has a crisp, juicy texture. Its flavor is sweet and mildly aromatic. When compared to Bartlett, a popular pear variety, sensory panelists rated Gem similar in appearance, flavor and purchase intent.
So i guess in wording Gem is better than Sheldon…and if you can grow Bartlett there is not much reason to grow Gem… however Gem may be useful to someone wanting to grow Bartlett but cannot due to issues with FB.
Gem’s grandparent is Moonglow
Roger Sheldon, wife Elizabeth and 10 children came to Huron in 1809. Along their journey, they stopped overnight in Dutchess County at the home of a Judge Johnson. Mrs. Johnson gave the children some pears. When the children got to their new home, they planted the seeds they had saved. These pears would later be known as the “Sheldon Pear” – a popular fruit – an heirloom fruit today.
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