142 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



Leaf -buds small, short, conical, pointed, appressed; leaf -scars prominent. Leaves 

 3j in. long, 2 in. wide, oval, thin, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandular, 

 finely serrate; petiole 2j in. long. Flower-buds large, conical, pointed, plump, free, arranged 

 singly on short spurs and branchlets; flowers 15 in. across, showy, in dense clusters, 6 to 

 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels | in. long, slender, pubescent, greenish. 



Fruit ripe in late September and October; medium in size, 25 in. long, 2 in. wide, 

 uniform in size and shape, oblong-obovate-pyriform, with unequal sides; stem f in. long, 

 very thick; cavity obtuse, very shallow, narrow, russeted, gently furrowed, often lipped; 

 calyx open; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, obtuse; basin shallow, obtuse, 

 gently fiurowed; skin thick, very tough and granular, smooth except for the russet markings, 

 dull; color deep brownish-yellow, with a bright reddish blush on the exposed cheek toward 

 the basin; dots many, small, brownish or russet, conspicuous; flesh white, tinged with yellow, 

 firm, granular, stringy toward the center, juicy, sweet, aromatic; quality good. Core 

 large, closed; core-lines clasping; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, 

 acute. 



CLAPP FAVORITE 



I. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 50. i860. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 20. 1867. 3. Pom. France 4: No. 170, 

 PI. 170. 1867. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 720, fig. 1869. 5. Thomas Am. Fruit Cult. 452. 1897. 



Favorite de Clapp. 6. Mas Le Verger 2:207, fig. 102. 1866-73. 



Clapp's Favourite. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 548. 1884. 8. Bunyard-Thomas Fr. Card. 134, 462, fig. 

 1904. 



Clapp's Liebling. 9. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 31, PI. 46. 1894. 



Clapp Favorite is by universal consent the standard late summer pear 

 to precede Bartlett, which it much resembles in size, shape, color, and flavor. 

 In most regions in the United States and Canada where pears are largely- 

 grown for the market, Clapp Favorite is the first pear to be put on the 

 market. The season is usually a week or sometimes ten days before that 

 of Bartlett. The chief fault of the fruits is that they soon soften at the 

 center after ripening, to obviate which they should be picked at least ten 

 days before they would ripen on the tree. This softening at the core debars 

 the fruit from distant markets, and makes it suitable only for local trade. 

 The illustration of the whole fruit in the accompanying plate is so fore- 

 shortened by the camera that size and shape are not shown correctly, but 

 the half -fruit illustrates the size and shape very well. The fruits are usually 

 a little larger than those of Bartlett. Except in one particular, the trees 

 of Clapp Favorite are as nearly perfect as those of any variety in American 

 orchards. The weak character, unfortunately, is a most important one, 

 and all but debars the variety from some regions in which pear-growing is 

 a large industry. The weakness is susceptibility to blight. No standard 

 pear goes down so quickly as this one when blight is epidemic. Two good 

 characters of the trees redeem the variety from failure because of blight. 



