56 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



bred with this combination in view have been announced, and the number 

 of these hybrids is certain to be increased as time goes on. 



The advent of Russian pears in the United States must also be 

 mentioned as a notable event in the history of this fruit. Russian pears 

 are hardy strains of Pyrus communis grown from time immemorial in 

 Russia. The fruits of these Russian varieties are low in quality, but the 

 trees are much hardier than those of strains coming from more southern 

 parts of Europe. Some seventy or eighty of these hardy pears have been 

 imported from Russia, the first shipment coming in 1 879 from St. Petersburg. 

 For a few years importations followed rapidly, and fruit-growers in cold 

 regions had high hopes of being able to grow pears in competition with 

 growers in more favored regions. The fruits turned out to be so poor in 

 quality and the trees so subject to blight, however, that the cultivation of 

 all but a few varieties has ceased. Of the whole number, Bessemianka, 

 possibly, is the only one worthy of comparison with the pears of southern 

 Europe, and this sort is rated as poor where the southern pears are grown. 

 Professor J. L. Budd,^ Ames, Iowa, and Charles Gibb, Montreal, Canada, 

 were the two men most instrumental in bringing these pears to America. 



The chief import of these brief records of the origin and history of 

 cviltivated pears in several countries is to show the evolution of this fruit. 

 It is hoped that the chapter will furnish inspiration for further amelioration 

 of the pear, and that it contains facts that will be helpfiil in the future 

 development of this fruit. The men, times, and places have historical 

 and narrative interest to pomologists; but these are quite secondary to 

 the knowledge of what the raw material was from which our pear flora 

 has been fashioned, and the methods of domestication that were employed. 

 This chapter is only a sketch — the briefest possible outline of how the 

 leading types of pears came to be, and how and when they came to America. 



' For an account of the life and work of Budd, see The Plums of New York, page 145. 



