214 THE P EARS OF NEW YORK 



dots numerous, small, light russet, obscure; flesh light salmon, fine-grained except at the 

 center which is granular, tender and melting, very juicy, mildly sweet, without much 

 character; quality medium. Core small, closed, axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx- 

 tube long, very wide, conical; carpels cordate; seeds wide, acute. 



RUTTER 



i.Am.Pom.Soc.Rpt.i^i. 1867. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1869. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 848, 

 fig. 1869. 



Rutter does not seem to have made a very high place for itself in the 

 country at large, but about Geneva, New York, it is a most excellent late 

 autumn variety. The pears are good or very good in quality, rather attrac- 

 tive, keep well, ship well, and sell well to those who know the variety. The 

 trees have a combination of good characters that commend them most 

 highly. Thus, they are comparatively immune to blight, enormously pro- 

 ductive, bear early, grow rapidly, live long, and are hardy. The fruits 

 hang exceptionally well to the trees, so that the variety is a valuable one 

 for exposed situations. Rutter can be recommended for both home and 

 market plantations. 



This variety was raised by John Rutter, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 

 from seed of Leon Leclerc (Van Mons) about sixty years ago. It was 

 approved by the Committee on New Native Fruits of the American Pomo- 

 logical Society in 1867. This Society placed the variety on its list of 

 recommended fruits in 1869. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, rapid-growing, productive; trunk stocky; 

 branches thick, reddish-brown, covered with gray scarf-skin, sprinkled with very con- 

 spicuous lenticels; branchlets long, light brown mingled with green and streaked with ash- 

 gray scarf-skin, smooth, glabrous, with small, conspicuous, raised lenticels. 



Leaf-buds long, conical, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 3! in. long, if in. wide, thick, 

 leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin nearly glandless, almost entire; petiole 2 in. long, 

 glabrous, reddish-green. Flower-buds medium in size and length, conical, plump, free, 

 singly on short spurs; flowers very showy, if in. across, almost in racemes, 6 or 8 buds in 

 a cluster; pedicels ij in. long, pubescent. 



Fruit matures in late October and early November; large, 3! in. long, 3 in. wide, 

 roundish-obtuse-pyriform, with a very thick, blunt neck, with unequal sides; stem f in. 

 long, thick, woody; cavity acuminate, unusually large, deep, russeted, occasionally furrowed 

 and wrinkled, slightly lipped; calyx small, open; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, 

 acute; basin deep, obtuse, smooth, symmetrical; skin thick, gritty, roughish, dull; color 

 yellow, overspread with light russet, mottled and flecked with russet; dots numerous, 

 small, russet, conspicuous; flesh whitish, granular at the center, tender and melting, juicy, 

 aromatic, sweet but refreshing; quality good to very good. Core small, closed, abaxile, 

 with meeting core-lines; calyx-tube long, conical; seeds small, roundish, plump, obtuse. 



