This year I added several pears you might not have heard of that sound like winners for one reason or another. This link has excellent information on several additional varieties http://tandeecal.com/page10.htm. What are some of the most obscure pears you grow? The descriptions below are a few of the ones I added
Beierschmitt Pear - according to Fruit | Albemarle Ciderworks & Vintage Virginia Apples
“BEIERSCHMITT originated in Fairbanks, Fayette County, Iowa, by J.A. Beierschmitt, and was introduced in 1927. It is considered to be a seedling of Bartlett. The seed planted by Marie Beierschmitt, mother of J.A. Beierschmitt, about 1900 bore its first fruit about 1908 to 1910. The original tree died when it was about 15 years old, but many suckers had been transplanted from it. This variety was first called to the attention of S.A. Beach (Apples of New York author) in 1921. The fruit is medium to large, broader than Bartlett but without as much neck, with a skin thin and tender, greenish-yellow to clear pale yellow when ripened, with slight russet. The fruit is firm, tender, very juicy, highly aromatic, and of high quality. The flesh is fairly fine, juicy, buttery, and quite free of grit. This pear has a mild, pleasing flavor and rates rather high in dessert quality. The skin is too tender to withstand commercial handling. It keeps somewhat longer than Bartlett. The tree is fairly vigorous, spreading or willowy in habit, productive, with some resistance to fire blight.”
Karls Favorite aka Ewart -according to https://www.jungseed.com/P/30825/Karl’S+Favorite+Pear+(Dwarf)
“Ewart - An excellent quality pear originating near Akron, Ohio in 1928. Yellow fruits have slightly russeted skin and are quite large, some over 1 lb each. Flesh is fine-grained, melting and juicy, superb for fresh eating and canning. The hardy, vigorous trees are very productive, bear annually and have moderate resistance to Fire Blight. Fruit ripens in September”
Plumblee - according to http://www.centuryfarmorchards.com/pears/pears.html
“Plumblee (E) is a green, firm, sweet, and juicy pear. It is a local pear, having been grown by my friend’s father for many decades. It makes excellent pear preserves. I like it better than most apples. Tree is disease resistant and hardy. It ripens in late August to early September.”
Citron de Carmes - according to Medieval Cookery - Fruit
“This is a very fine early fruit - the size is small, not much larger than the Hativeau - the skin green, the flesh juicy, buttery, and highly flavored - the taste, when not too ripe, sugary. This pear Mr. Prince calls the early Chaumontel; it is one of the finest fruits of the season. – W. Coxe, A view of the cultivation of fruit trees, 1817.”
Doctor Desportes - according to http://www.thebookofpears.fruitforum.net/directory/doctor-desportes
"Good quality and regular crops. "
Fondante de Moulins Lille - according to https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail.aspx?id=1436126
“Obtained in 1858 by M. Grolez-Duriez, Rouchin-lez-Lille, France, from a seed of Napolean. Propagated in France since 1863. Resembles Buerre d’Anjou in form and appearance but it is a little smaller in size. Flesh white, fine, free of grit, melting, extremely juicy. Very sweet, slightly acidulous, rich venous flavor. Of outstanding dessert quality but may be a little too soft in texture to withstand commercial handling. Midseason. Tree fairly vigorous, annual bearer, good foliage. True-dwarf on quince. Moderately susceptible to blight. - H. Hartman, 1957”
Tyson - according to http://barkslip.com/pear_tree_descriptions.html
"Tyson- Tyson competes with Clapp Favorite as the precursor of the pear season which is really opened by Bartlett. In every character of fruit and tree excepting size and color of fruit, Tyson excels Clapp Favorite. The quality of the fruit far excels that of Clapp Favorite and is better than that of Bartlett. Indeed, of commonly grown pears, the characters of flesh and flavor are second only to those of the fruits of Seckel. The flesh is melting and juicy, with a spicy, scented sweetness that gives the fruit the charm of individuality. The pears keep longer and ship better than those of Clapp Favorite; their season in New York is from the middle of August to the middle of September. Unfortunately, the pears are but medium in size, and are often poorly colored, both of which defects appear on the fruits of this variety as grown on the grounds of this Station and shown in the accomanying illustration.
The tree is the most nearly perfect of that of any pear grown in America-the Kieffer, praiseworthy only in its tree, not excepted. The tree is certainly as hardy as that of any other variety, if not hardier, and resists better than that of any other sort the black scourge of blight. Add to these notable characters large size, great vigor, and fruitfulness, and it is seen that the trees are nearly flawless. The only fault is, and this is a comparatively trifling one, that the trees are slow in coming in bearing. Tyson is the best pear of its season for the home orchard, and has much merit for commercial orchards. Were the fruits larger, it would rival Bartlett for the markets. No other variety offers so many good starting points for the pear-breeder.
Tyson originated as a wilding found about 1794 in a hedge on the land of Jonathan Tyson, Jenkintown, Penn. The tree first bore fruit in 1800. The pears proved to be so good that Mr. Tyson distributed cions among his neighbors, but the variety was not generally disseminated. About 1837, a Doctor Mease of Philadelphia sent cions to B. V. French, Braintree, near Boston, who in turn distributed them among his friends. The variety fruited here about 1842, and the fruit was exhibited before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society under the name Tyson. In 1848, at the National Convention of Fruit Growers, Tyson was recommended for general cultivation, and since that date the name has appeared continuously in the catalogs of the American Pomological Society.
Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, dense-topped, hardy, productive; trunk very stocky, rough; branches thick, dull reddish-brown, overspread with gray scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets slender, short, light brown mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, sprinkled with few small, inconspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, appressed or free. Leaves 22, in. long, 11 in. wide, thin; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely and shallowly serrate; petiole 5, in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, free, singly on short spurs; flowers medium in season of bloom. Fruit matures in late August; medium in size, 2 .1 in. long, 1 in. wide, roundish-acute-pyriform, with unequal sides; stem 13 in. long, curved; cavity very shallow, obtuse, round, usually drawing up as a lip about the base of the stem; calyx open, small, lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, flaring, slightly furrowed, compressed; skin tough, smooth, slightly russeted, dull; color deep yellow, usually blushed; dots numerous, very small, obscure; flesh tinged with yellow, granular around the basin, otherwise rather fine-grained, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet, aromatic; quality very good. Core small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube, short, wide, conical, seeds medium in size and width, plump, acute. The flesh is melting and Juicy, with a spicy, scented sweetness that gives the fruit the charm of individuality. – U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York, 1921."