THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 1 87 



Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, very productive; branches 

 slender, zigzag, reddish-brown overlaid with grayish scarf-skin, marked with numerous 

 raised, large lenticels ; branchlets slender, very long, with characteristically long intemodes, 

 rough, zigzag, marked with numerous large, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaves 35 in. 

 long, if in. wide; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandless, serrate; petiole 2 in. long. 

 Flowers early, showy, i^ in. across, in dense clusters, 6 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 

 I in. long, thick. 



Fruit ripens in August; large, 25 in. long, 3j in. wide, varies from obovate-obtuse- 

 pyriform to globular-obtuse-pyriform, with unequal sides; stem 5 in. long, thick, curved, 

 woody; cavity very small and narrow, often with a lip drawn up around one side of the 

 stem; calyx partly open; lobes narrow, often reflexed; basin narrow, obtuse, gently fur- 

 rowed; skin thin, tender, smooth; color pale yellow, overspread on the exposed cheek 

 with a bright red blush; dots niunerous, small, greenish or russet, obscure; flesh whitish 

 or often salmon-color, firm, tough, medium juicy, lacking sweetness; quality poor. Core 

 unusually small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds short, 

 wide, pliunp, obtuse, few in ntmiber. 



LE CONTE 



I. Ca. Horl. Soc. Rpt. 8, 29. 1878. 2. la. Horl. Soc. Rpt. 303. 1879. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 

 1883. 4. Card. Mon. 27:282. 1885. 5. Ga. Hon. Soc. Rpt. 55. 1885. 6. Black Cult. Peach & Pear 

 234. 1886. 7. Cornell Sta. But. 332:484. 1913. 8. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Out. 169. 1914. 



Le Conte is a hybrid between the Chinese Sand pear and a European 

 sort, therefore similar in parentage to Kieffer which it greatly resembles 

 in both tree and fruit. The fruits are rather poorer in quality than those 

 of Kieffer, if that be possible for an edible fruit, and the tree is in no way 

 superior to that of its better-known rival, but seems to succeed better in 

 warm climates and light soils. There is, therefore, a place for Le Conte 

 in the South, and possibly on parts of Long Island, if a pear is wanted for 

 culinary purposes only. The fruits sometimes rot badly at the core, and 

 should usually be harvested as soon as they attain full size. The trees 

 are more susceptible to blight than those of Kieffer. In the South, the 

 trees are often, if not usually, propagated from cuttings. 



Le Conte originated in America, and is probably a hybrid between the 

 Chinese Sand pear and some native. It is supposed to have been carried 

 from Philadelphia to Georgia about 1850 by Major Le Conte, and has 

 since been extensively cultivated in the southern States for northern 

 markets. In 1885 it was recommended by the Georgia Horticultviral 

 Society for cultivation in the middle region of that State. The American 

 Pomological Society added Le Conte to its fruit-catalog in 1883. 



