140 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



BRANDYWINE 



I. Horticulturist 3:166, &gs. 2$ &nd 26. 1848-49. 2. Mag. Hort. 15:106. 1849. 3. Hovey Fr. Am. 

 2:51, PI. 1851. 4. Mag. Hort. 19:450, fig. 30. 1853. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 231. 1858. 6. Leroy 

 Diet. Pom. 1:496, fig. 1867. 7. Pom. France 4: No. 160, PI. 160. 1867. 



Were it not that Tyson is better in both tree and fruit, Brandywine, 

 which ripens its crop with that of Tyson, could be put down as about the 

 best pear of its season. Tyson is the better variety, however, in almost 

 every soil and situation, and Brandywine has a place in American pear flora 

 only because the pears have a distinct flavor which gives them the charm 

 of individuality. The flesh is neither sweet nor perfumed, as is that of most 

 pears at this season, but has the piquant smack of some of the winter pears 

 which makes the fruits particularly refreshing. The tree is vigorous, with 

 a handsome pyramidal top, but is not remarkable otherwise. Sometimes 

 it is unproductive. The variety is worth planting for the sake of diversity 

 in home orchards. 



The original tree, a chance seedling, was found on the farm of Eli 

 Harvey, Chaddsford, on the banks of the Brandywine River, Pennsylvania. 

 This parent tree began to bear about 1820, but in 1835 wind broke it down 

 near the surface of the ground. The present tree is a sucker from the original, 

 and first fruited in 1844. This fact accounts for its not sooner having 

 become known to cultivation. Dr. Brinckle of Philadelphia showed the 

 fruits first at a meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1848 

 when it received high commendations. In 1858 the American Pomological 

 Society added Brandywine to its list of recommended fruits. 



Tree large, vigorous, very upright, dense-topped, productive; branches long, olive- 

 gray, sprinkled with roundish lenticels; branchlets slender, curved, with short intemodes, 

 brownish-red overspread with scarf-skin, glabrous, with few small, obscure lenticels. 



Leaf-buds medium in size and length, pointed, free. Leaves small, long-ovate; apex 

 taper-pointed; margin serrate; petiole i§ in. long. Flower-buds large, plump, conical, free, 

 singly on spurs and as terminal buds ; flowers g in. across, in dense clusters, average 9 buds 

 in a cluster; pedicels 5 in. long, slender, pubescent. 



Fruit ripens in late August and early September; medium in size, 2f in. long, 2 J in. 

 wide, variable in shape but generally obovate-pyriform; stem if in. long, fleshy, curved, 

 obliquely attached; cavity lacking, the flesh drawn up in a wrinkled fold about the base of 

 the stem; calyx large, open; lobes short, entire; basin small, shallow^ usually smooth; skin 

 roughish; color greenish-yellow, blushed with red on the sunny side, marked with tracings 

 of russet especially near the cavity; dots numerous, large, conspicuous, russet; flesh whitish, 

 or faintly tinged with yellow, granular, melting, juicy, aromatic, vinous; quality good to 

 very good. Core small; seeds few, small, dark brown. 



