The Pears of New York. U. P. Hedrick
or as ornamentals. Only one, however, is of great importance. This is P. communis, to a discussion of which we now come.
1. PYRUS COMMUNIS Linnaeus.
1. Linnaeus Sp. Pl. 479. 1753. 2. Loudon Arb. et Frut. Brit. 2:880. 1838. 3. Schneider Laubholzk. 1:661. 1906.
Tree vigorous, attaining a height of 50 ft. and a diameter of 2 ft., usually with an upright, oblong, or pyramidal, compact top; bark on trunk of mature trees rough, with large persistent scales; branches usually stout, thorny, variously colored, overlaid with scarf-skin; branchlets glossy, smooth, glabrous, with more or less conspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds prominent, plump, obtuse or pointed, mostly free; leaf-scars conspicuous. Leaves 2 to 4 in. long, 1 to 2½ in. wide, oval or oblong-ovate, thin, hard or leathery, veiny; upper surface dark green, glabrous; lower surface light green, glabrous; both surfaces downy as the leaves open; apex acuminate; margins crenate-serrate or entire, never setose-serrate; teeth often tipped with small glands; petiole 1 to 2 in. long, slender. Flower-buds larger and plumper than leaf-buds; borne on fruiting spurs in dense or loose clusters of 4 to 10; flowers showy, 1 in. across, white or sometimes with tinge of pink; calyx persistent or rarely deciduous; styles distinct to the base, sometimes downy; stamens 15 to 20; pedicels 1 in. long, slender, sometimes pubescent.
Fruits exceedingly variable under cultivation; varying from 1 in. in length and diameter to 3 in. in diameter and 5 to 6 in. in length; variously shaped, as pyriform, turbinate, round-conic, or round-oblate; green, yellow, red, or russet, or combinations of these colors; flesh white, yellowish, sometimes pink or wine-red, rarely salmon-colored; flesh firm, melting, or buttery and when ripening on the tree with few or many grit-cells. Seeds 1 to 3 in a cell, sometimes abortive or wanting, large, brown, or brownish, often tufted at the tips.
Pyrus communis, the common pear, as stated in the preceding chapter, is a native of southern Europe and southwestern Asia as far east as Kashmir. The species is a frequent escape from cultivation, multiplying from seed distributed by animals and by human agencies, and is now to be found naturalized in forests and byways of the temperate zones wherever pears are cultivated in orchards. The pear is not as hardy as the apple, and is, therefore, less generally grown. It refuses to grow in the warmest and coldest parts of the temperate zones, but is a favorite orchard, dooryard, and roadside plant in all mid-temperate regions.
The species comes from regions or localities where the climate is mild and equable, neither very hot nor very cold, and grows in moist, cool, and rather heavy soils. These predilections cling to cultivated pears wherever grown, and pure-bred varieties do not thrive under other conditions. Wild or cultivated, the pear is a deep-rooted plant, a fact that must be taken into consideration in selecting orchard sites. On shallow soils pears thrive better on the shallow-rooted quince.
Few cultivated fruits have changed more under domestication than the common pear. The trees under cultivation are larger and much more vigorous, and the fruits in the best orchard varieties—the consummation of the breeder’s art—would by no one be considered the same species if the two were found in the wild. The pears from truly wild trees in the Old World are small, nearly round, hard, gritty, sour, and astringent. Fruits from the run-wild trees from the chance transport of seeds in this country are scarcely more attractive to either eye or palate. The product of these wild trees can hardly be called edible fruits. Cultivated varieties seem to have been evolved, until the advent of Le Conte and Kieffer, only by cultivation and selection. All plants are improved more rapidly under hybridization than selection, and now that the hybridization of this pear with other species is in full swing, we may expect, for the New World at least, a new pear flora in the immediate future.
The pear supplies man not only an important article of food but also a refreshing drink. Perry, the expressed juice of pears, is a common drink in all European countries. It is used somewhat as a fruit-juice, but chiefly as a fermented beverage. Pear-juice is fermented in open casks and at the end of fermentation contains from six to twelve per cent of alcohol. In parts of England and France, special varieties are grown in considerable numbers for perry-making. The wood of the pear is hard, heavy, and close grained, for which qualities it is esteemed by turners and engravers and for fuel. A mature pear-tree is a beautiful ornamental, and few forest trees are nobler or more picturesque than an old specimen of this species with its great size and irregular, pyramidal top. A pear-tree has much merit for shade as well as an ornamental.
Pears are easy of culture and propagation, subjects to be discussed in full in the next chapter. A few words as to propagation are in place here to show the affinities of this species with other species and genera. The common pear readily inter-grafts with other pears, and its cions may be made to grow, though with difficulty, on the apple. A most noteworthy fact with this fruit is that though not easily grafted on the apple and some other pears, it unites readily with the quince and the hawthorn, both of which belongs to distinct genera. The common pear hybridizes freely with the oriental pear, but whether with other species does not appear. There are no records of the pear hybridizing with the apple, but there are trustworthy accounts of hybrids with the quince and with sorbus.
The classical name of the pear was Pirus, changed to Pyrus by Tournefort, after which it was adopted by Linnaeus, who established the genus and united with it the Malus and Cydonia of Tournefort. Fortunately there is no confusion in the botanical nomenclature of this fruit. Botanists agree, without notable divergence of opinion, on the generic and specific names of this fruit. There are several well-marked botanical varieties of Pyrus communis as well as a number of horticultural forms. The most prominent of these must be noted.
PYRUS COMMUNUS PYRASTER Linnaeus
1. Linnaeus Sp. Pl. 479. 1753.
This variety, rather common in parts of Europe, is similar to the type in foliage but has globose fruits. The leaves differ somewhat in being more rounded and in having margins more serrate. The plant is often very thorny. Some botanists believe this form to be only an escape from cultivation.
PYRUS COMMUNIS SATIVA De Candolle
1. De Candolle Prod. 2:634. 1825.
This name is applied to the cultivated pear in its many pomological forms. The trees are usually larger than those of the wild pears and are without thorns. They differ also in having larger leaves, and larger and better-flavored fruits.
PYRUS COMMUNIS CORDATA Hooker
1. Hooker, J. D. Stud. Flora 131. 1878. 2. P. cordata Desvaux Obs. Pl. Anjou 152. 1818.
This botanical variety is a spiny shrub or shrub-like tree. The leaves are smaller than those of the species, 1 in. in width, suborbicular to ovate, subcordate at the base. Flowers smaller. Fruit globose or slightly turbinate, very small,½ in. in diameter; calyx persistent. The species is a native of western France and is found in Devon and Cornwall, England. This species is said to propagate itself freely from root-suckers which suggests that it might be tried as a dwarfing stock for the common pears.
PYRUS COMMUNIS LONGIPES Henry
1. Henry Trees Gt. Brit. & Ire. 6:1561. 1912. 2. P. longipes Cosson and Durien Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 2:310. 1855.
The tree is small with a few spines. The leaves are about 2 in. long and 1 in. wide, ovate, acuminate, subcordate, glabrous, finely and crenately serrate, on long slender petioles. This variety differs little from var. cordata in its fruit except in the deciduous calyx. It is found along the mountain streams of Algeria.
PYRUS COMMUNIS MARIANA Willkomm
1. Linnaea 25:25. 1852. 2. P. bourgaeana Decaisne Jar. Fruit. i. t. 2. 1871.
This is a small tree found in the