THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 215 



SECKEL 



1. Prince Pom. Man. 1:139. 1831. 2. Kenrick Am. Orch. 183. 1832. 3. Card. Chron. 708, fig. 

 1842. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 415, fig. 188. 1845. 5. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 6. Hovey 

 Fr. Am. 2:33, PI. 1851. 7. Mag. Hort. 19:457. fig- -34- '853- 8. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 29, fig. 13. 

 1866-73. 9. Leroy Diet. Pom. 2:656, figs. 1869. 10. Guide Prat. 63, 303. 1876. 



Seckle. 11. Coxe Cult. Fr. Trees 189, fig. 25. 1817. 12. Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc. 3:256, PI. 9. 1820. 

 13. Pom. Mag. 2:72, PI. 1829. 14. Hort. Reg. (Eng.) 1:488. 1833. 15. Pom. France 2: No. 64, PI. 64. 

 1864. 16. Jour. Hort. 3rd Ser. 4:128. 1882. 17. Hogg Fruit Man. 644. 1884. 18. Bunyard Handb. 

 Hardy Fr. 197. 1920. 



Seckel is an American pear distinct in type from any European variety. 

 Among the several hundred pears that are grown on this side of the Atlan- 

 tic, Seckel stands almost alone in vigor of tree, productiveness, and immunity 

 to blight, and is equalled by no other variety in high quality of fruit. If the 

 fruits were larger, Seckel would challenge the world as a pear for the markets 

 as it now does as a pear for the home orchard. After Bartlett and the dis- 

 reputable Kieffer, it is now more grown than any other variety in America, 

 everywhere being used as the standard for excellence. The fruits are small, 

 not highly colored, but attractive because clean and trim in contour. But 

 it is the flesh-characters that give the fruits their high standing. The flesh 

 is melting, juicy, perfumed and most exquisitely and delicately flavored, 

 with the curious character of having much of its spicy, aromatic flavor in 

 the skin, which should never be discarded in eating. The reddish-brown 

 color of the fruit is another distinguishing character of Seckel. Unlike 

 most other dessert pears, the fruits of this one are excellent for culinary 

 purposes. Still another distinctive character is that the fruits do not lose 

 much in quality by ripening on the tree. Besides being nearly iron-clad in 

 resistance to blight and very productive, the trees are almost as hardy as 

 those of any other pear, and are remarkable for their large, low, compact, 

 broadly pyramidal tops. The tree is further distinguished by its short- 

 jointed, stout, olive-colored wood, and its habit of bearing fruits in clusters 

 on the ends of the branches. The trees do best in fertile soils which must 

 not be a heavy clay. Its blossoms are markedly self-fertile. There are 

 several faults of fruit and tree. The fruits are small and do not keep after 

 maturity; it costs twice as much to pick them as it does the large-fruited 

 Bartlett; fruit and foliage are susceptible to scab; the pears are too small 

 for commercial canning; and the trees are late in coming in bearing. With 

 these several faults, however, Seckel is usually a profitable commercial 

 variety as a well-grown crop almost always commands a fancy price. For 

 the home orchard, Seckel has no rival in any part of North America where 

 European varieties are grown. 



