20! 



PROMISING NEW FRUITS. 267 



DESCRIPTION. 



Form roundish; size medium to large; cavity regular, of medium 

 size and depth, slope gradual, with russet markings; stem short, 

 stout; basin regular, small, of medium depth, slope gradual, some- 

 times slightly furrowed; calyx segments rather short, wide, converg- 

 ing; eye small, closed; surface smooth; color greenish yellow, washed 

 and marbled with mixed red and broken stripes of crimson and over- 

 spread of gray; dots numerous, rather conspicuous, yellowish or 

 light gray, sometimes russet; skin moderately thick, tenacious; 

 flesh whitish yellow, fine grained, tender, juicy; core oblate conic 

 to roundish conic, large, clasping, partially open; seeds few as a 

 rule, plump, large, color light brown ; flavor mild, pleasant subacid ; 

 quality good to very good. Season, early August in eastern Mary- 

 land, continuing for two or three weeks. 



The tree makes a thrifty, straight growth in the nursery and forms 

 an upright, round, symmetrical head in the orchard. It comes into 

 bearing early and is considered productive. 1 



On account of the beauty and high quality of this variety and the 

 productiveness of the tree it is apparently worthy of a more promi- 

 nent place in the early-apple industry of middle latitudes and the 

 South than it holds at the present time. 



The specimen illustrated in Plate III was received through Mr. 

 J. W. Kerr, Denton, Caroline County, Md., in 1912. 



DOUGLAS PEAR. 



[PLATE IV.] 

 EARLY HISTORY. 



The Douglas pear originated with Mr. O. H. Aver, near Law- 

 rence. Douglas County, Kans., as did the Ayer pear. 2 The exact 

 year of its origin is not a matter of definite record, though it was 

 about 1897. It came from a seed of the Kieffer pear and is sup- 

 posed to be a hybrid between that variety and the Angouleme 

 (Duchesse d' } Angouleme). It first fruited in 1902. During that 

 season the fruit was exhibited before the local county horticultural 

 society, where it attracted the attention of Mr. A. H. Griesa, of Law- 

 rence, who later that same season made an examination of the tree. 

 It was then standing in a much overcrowded row of seedling pear 

 trees and was the only one of the entire collection to fruit that year. 

 The general appearance of the tree, the character of the foliage, and 



1 Letter from Mr. J. W. Kerr, November, 1912. 



2 For description of the Ayer pear, see Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, for 1911, 

 p. 428. 



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