82 



BUFFUM 



CLAPP FAVORITE 



ticularly refreshing. The tree is vigorous, with 

 a handsome pyramidal top. The variety is 

 worth planting for the sake of diversity in 

 home orchards. The original tree, a chance 



78. Brandywine. 



seedling, was found on the farm of Eli Harvey, 

 Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, on the banks of 

 the Brandywine River. 



Tree large, vigorous, very upright, dense-topped, pro- 

 ductive ; branches long, olive-gray, sprinkled with round- 

 ish lenticels. Leaves small, long-ovate ; apex taper- 

 pointed ; margin serrate ; petiole 1 ^ inches long. 

 Flowers % inch across, in dense clusters, average 9 

 buds in a cluster. Fruit ripens in late August and 

 early September ; 2 % inches long, 2 % inches wide, 

 obovate-pyriform ; stem 1 1 / 2 inches long, fleshy, curved, 

 obliquely attached ; cavity lacking, the flesh drawn up 

 in a wrinkled fold about the base of the stem ; calyx 

 large, open ; lobes short, entire ; basin small, shallow, 

 usually smooth ; skin roughish ; color yellow, blushed 

 with red on the sunny side, marked with tracings of 

 russet especially near the cavity ; dots numerous, large, 

 conspicuous, russet ; flesh whitish, or faintly tinged with 

 yellow, granular, melting, juicy, aromatic, vinous ; qual- 

 ity good to very good ; core small ; seeds few, small, 

 dark brown. 



BUFFUM. Buffum has meritorious charac- 

 ters of the tree which should keep it in the 

 list of standard varieties. The trees are re- 

 markably vigorous, nearly free from blight, 

 very productive, although they have a ten- 

 dency to bear biennially. The quality of the 

 fruits is variable. At times the flesh is rich, 

 aromatic, melting and very good; again, it 

 may be insipid or even illy flavored, devoid of 

 perfume, coarse in texture and poor. The 

 fruits are never large and often run small. To 

 attain good quality, the pears must be picked 

 early and ripened in a moderately cool fruit- 

 room. The culture of Buffum is on the wane, 

 chiefly for the reason that its fruits ripen with 

 those of Seckel and fail in competition, the 

 Seckels being nearly as large and much better 

 in quality. The original tree of Buffum grew 

 in the garden of David Buffum, Warren, Rhode 

 Island. 



Tree vigorous, very upright, dense, hardy, almost 

 immune to blight, very productive ; branches shaggy, 

 zigzag, reddish-brown, with numerous small lenticels. 

 Leaves 3% inches long, 2 inches wide, oval, thin, 



leathery ; apex abruptly pointed ; margin glandular, 

 finely serrate; petiole 2% inches long. Flowers 1^ 

 inches across, showy, in dense clusters, 6 to 8 flowers in 

 a cluster. Fruit ripe in late September and October ; 

 2% inches long, more than 2 inches wide, uniform in 

 size and shape, oblong-obovate-pyriform, with unequal 

 sides ; stem % inch long, very thick ; cavity obtuse, 

 shallow, narrow, russeted, gently furrowed, often slightly 

 lipped ; calyx open ; lobes separated at the base, short, 

 narrow, obtuse ; basin shallow, obtuse, gently furrowed ; 

 skin thick, tough and granular, smooth except for the 

 russet markings, dull ; color deep brownish-yellow, with 

 a bright reddish blush on the exposed cheek toward the 

 basin ; dots many, small, brownish or russet, conspicu- 

 ous ; flesh white, tinged with yellow, firm, granular, 

 stringy toward the center, juicy, sweet, aromatic ; 

 quality good ; core large, closed ; core-lines clasping ; 

 calyx-tube short, wide, conical ; seeds large, wide, 

 plump, acute. 



CLAIRGEAU: See Beurre Clairgeau. 



79. Clapp Favorite. (X%) 



CLAPP FAVORITE. Fig. 79. Clapp Fa- 

 vorite is the standard late summer pear to 

 precede Bartlett, which it much resembles in 

 size, shape, color and flavor. The season is 

 usually a week or sometimes ten days before 

 that of Bartlett. The chief fault of the fruits 

 is that they soon soften at the center after 

 ripening, to obviate which they should be 

 picked at least ten days before they would 

 ripen on the tree. This softening at the core 

 debars the fruit from distant markets, and 

 makes it suitable only for local trade. The 

 fruits are usually a little larger than those of 

 Bartlett. The trees of Clapp Favorite are 

 nearly perfect except that they go down 

 quickly when blight is epidemic. Two good 

 characters of the trees redeem the variety 

 from failure because of blight. After those of 

 Flemish Beauty and Tyson, the trees of this 

 variety show greater hardihood to cold than 

 those of any other standard sort; and of all 

 pears in America, Kieffer not excepted, the 

 trees of Clapp Favorite are most fruitful. 

 Other merits of the tree are large size, vigor, 

 longevity, and earliness and regularity in bear- 



