76 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



furrowed or wrinkled; skin tough, smooth, waxy; color lemon-yellow, with russet lines 

 and nettings and many russet specks; dots numerous, small, conspicuous, brownish- 

 russet; flesh yellowish-white, very granular, crisp, tough, juicy, with a peculiar aroma 

 unlike that of the common pear; poor in quality. Core large, open, axile, with clasping 

 core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds roundish, of medium size, wide, plump, 

 obtuse. 



The Sand pear differs from the type in fruit and foliage. The pears 

 are much larger and are commonly apple-form as shown in the accompany- 

 ing plate, but trees bearing pyriform fruits are not unknown. The leaves 

 are larger and broader. Rehder, who separated this form from its species, 

 writes, " The Japanese pear cultivated under the name Madame Von 

 Siebold may be considered as representing the type of this variety." These 

 pears are known to pomologists under several names; as Chinese Sand, 

 Sand, Japanese, Hawaii, Sha Lea, Gold Dust, Mikado, and Diamyo, 

 although it is possible that the last three are hybrids. The pear illustrated 

 and described in this text as a representative of this botanical variety 

 came from seed sent from Manchuria. 



The pears are attractive in appearance, keep well, and are palatable 

 in culinary preparations, but are possessed of a gritty flesh and potato-like 

 flavor which debar them as dessert fruits in all regions where the common 

 pear can be grown. The several varieties of var. culta now in America 

 came from Japan where the species must have been early introduced from 

 China as this is now the most common fruit of the Japanese with the excep- 

 tion of the persimmon. In China and Japan there are a number of pomo- 

 logical varieties, which, however, differ from each other less than varieties 

 of the European pear. The fruits of the several varieties grown in America 

 are often mistaken for apples, from which they are distinguished by their 

 deciduous calyxes, rough, dry skins, long stems, juicy, gritty flesh, and 

 insipid potato-like flavor. Seedlings of var. culta fail as stocks for European 

 varieties in the same characters in which the species is unsatisfactory. 



This oriental pear hybridizes freely with the common pear, and it is 

 for this purpose that it is most valuable in America. Several of these 

 hybrids are important commercial varieties in North America of which 

 Kieffer, Le Conte, and Garber, in the order named, are the best known and 

 the most useful. Sterility is a common attribute of hybrids, but the hybrids 

 between these two species are not more sterile than varieties of the parents. 

 These hybrids are stronger and more rapid in growth than the common 

 pear and are more productive and more resistant to blight. The pears are 



