192 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



LINCOLN CORELESS 

 I. Parry Cat. g, fig. 1891. 2. Ann. Hort. 185. 1892. 3. III. Hort. Soc. Rpl. 137. 1894. 4. Ibid. 

 52, 178. 1896. 5. Rural N. Y. 64:256. 1905. 



The product of Lincoln Coreless is worthless for dessert, and but a 

 coarse makeshift for culinary purposes. The variety receives attention 

 only because the pear is a monstrosity and a curiosity. The fruits are 

 enormous in size, outweighing all other pears unless it be those of the Pound. 

 They are unique in having a very small core and few or sometimes no 

 seeds. They are further characterized by very late maturity, ripening 

 later than those of any other pear on the grounds of this Station and 

 keeping until April. While usually rather dull greenish-yellow in color, 

 the cheek is often enlivened by a bright blush which makes the fruits 

 rather attractive despite their grossness. The catalogs describe the trees 

 as " blight proof," but they blight on the grounds of this Station. The 

 variety is worth growing only as an interesting curiosity. 



According to William Parry, Parry, New Jersey, Lincoln Coreless 

 originated in Lincoln County, Tennessee, near the Alabama line, about 

 1830. The original tree was rated as productive and free from blight, 

 and young trees propagated from it have been unusually healthy and 

 vigorous. The variety was introduced about 1890 by William Parry. 



Tree small, vigorous, upright, very dense, pyramidal, hardy, an uncertain bearer; 

 trunk shaggy; branches smooth, zigzag, reddish-brown mingled with ash-gray, marked 

 with small lenticels; branchlets short to medium, dull brown, smooth, glabrous, with 

 conspicuous lenticels. 



Leaf-buds large, obtuse, plump, appressed. Leaves 3 in. long, if in. wide, elongated- 

 oval, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1^ in. long, reddish; 

 stipules very long. Flower-buds short, obtuse, plump, free; flowers if in. across, very 

 large and showy, average 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels if in. long, thick, pubescent, pale 

 green. 



Fruit ripe in February; very large, 45 in. long, 3 in. wide, uniform in size, obovate- 

 acute-pyriform, somewhat ribbed, with unequal sides; stem if in. long, thick, curved; 

 cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted, furrowed, often lipped; calyx open, large; lobes 

 separated at the base, narrow, acute; basin very shallow, narrow, obtuse, furrowed; skin 

 very thick, tough, coarse and granular, smooth, dull ; color greenish-yellow, with a handsome 

 blush on the cheek exposed to the sun; dots many, brownish-russet, very conspicuous; 

 flesh yellowish-white, very firm, granular at the core, crisp, tough, medium juicy, rather 

 bitter and astringent; quality poor. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube 

 long, wide, conical; seeds few, narrow, often abortive, acute. 



