FREDERICK CLAPP 



GLOU MORCEAU 



fruit and tree. The fruits are not quite at- 

 tractive enough to sell on the markets or to 

 grace the table of the amateur, their rough, 

 russet skins detracting greatly from their ap- 

 pearance. When the skin is removed, how- 

 ever, a better late fall pear cannot be found. 

 The flesh is white, fine in texture, very juicy, 

 melting, and has a brisk, vinous flavor and a 

 pleasant aromatic smell and taste that at once 

 place the quality very high. The trees are 

 but mediocre in the prime characters of a good 

 orchard plant. The variety is condemned for 

 any purpose other than the collector's planta- 

 tion. Fox is one of many seedlings originated 

 by B. S. Fox, San Jose, California, about 1870. 



Tree upright-spreading, round-topped, moderately pro- 

 ductive ; trunk slender ; branches stocky, smooth, 

 greenish-brown. Leaves 2% inches long, 1^4 inches 

 wide, thick ; apex abruptly pointed ; margin nearly 

 entire to finely serrate. Flowers open early. Fruit ripe 

 October- November ; large, 3% inches long, 2% inches 

 wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform ; stem 1% inches long, 

 very thick, curved, obliquely set ; cavity very shallow 

 or lacking, the flesh folded up around the base of the 

 stem ; calyx closed or slightly open, variable in size ; 

 lobes much separated at the base, short, broad, acute ; 

 basin shallow, narrow, very small, furrowed and com- 

 pressed ; skin thick, granular, tough, roughened by the 

 russet dots ; color russet-yellow, often with a russet-red 

 blush on the side next to the sun, overspread with 

 russet ; dots numerous, conspicuous, russet ; flesh white, 

 granular near the core, melting, very juicy, sweet, 

 mingled with a brisk vinous flavor, richly aromatic ; 

 quality very good ; core large, closed ; calyx-tube short, 

 wide ; seeds wide, plump, acute. 



FREDERICK CLAPP. Frederick Clapp 

 has a place on the pear list, because it is one 

 of the few good varieties with acidulous fruits. 

 The refreshing, piquant flavor; the tender, 

 melting, juicy flesh; and the bright lemon- 

 yellow color without a trace of red give suffi- 

 cient charm and character to the fruits to make 

 the variety desirable in every collection of 

 good pears. The trees are vigorous and 

 healthy and form open, wide-spreading heads 

 that commend them for orchard management. 

 They grow with rapidity and vigor, come in 

 bearing early, and are unusually fruitful. The 

 variety is seldom planted in commercial or- 

 chards, but it has a welcome place in every 

 home orchard fortunate enough to have it. 

 This pear was raised about 1870, by Lemuel 

 Clapp, Dorchester, Massachusetts. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright becoming very spreading, 

 with open top, hardy ; trunk thick, shaggy ; branches 

 stocky, shaggy, zigzag, dull reddish-brown, marked with 

 many small lenticels. Leaves 3 inches long, 1% inches 

 wide, ovate, stiff ; apex taper-pointed ; margin tipped 

 with very fine, sharp-pointed, reddish-brown glands, 

 finely serrate ; petiole 1 % inches long, slender, glabrous. 

 Flowers cup-shaped, often with a disagreeable odor, 1 

 inch wide, averaging 9 buds in a cluster. Fruit ripe in 

 October ; medium in size, more than 2 inches long, 2 % 

 inches wide, variable in size ; roundish or obovate, ir- 

 regular in shape, stem % inch long, thick ; cavity 

 variable, often with a fleshy fold drawn up around the 

 base of the stem ; calyx open ; lobes short, broad, obtuse ; 

 basin deep, wide, abrupt, usually smooth, symmetrical ; 

 skin thin, tender, smooth ; color lemon-yellow, often 

 marked with flecks and mottlings of russet ; dots nu- 

 merous, small, russet, obscure ; flesh with a tinge of 

 yellow, fine, tender, melting, characteristically juicy, 

 sweet, with a rich sprightliness ; quality very good ; core 

 closed, axile, with clasping core-lines ; calyx-tube very 

 short, wide, broadly conical ; carpels obovate ; seeds 

 large, wide, long, plump, acute. 



GANSEL SECKEL. There are no good 

 reasons why this pear should be grown, it 

 having received much more attention than it 

 deserves during the half century it has been 

 in America. It suffices to say that the fruits 

 and trees are in no way equal to those of 

 Seckel. While the pears are larger than those 

 of Seckel, the yield is not as great, as the 

 trees do not bear as regularly, nor as abund- 

 antly; the crop ripens a little later. The fruits 

 are not as well flavored, nor as attractively 

 colored. The variety is still offered by many 

 nurserymen, most of whom, however, condemn 

 it with faint praise. Gansel Seckel was raised 

 from seed a century ago by a Mr. Williams, 

 Worcester, England. 



Tree upright-spreading, variable in yield ; branches 

 slender, zigzag, sprinkled with numerous lenticels. Leaves 

 2 % inches long, 1 % inches wide ; apex taper-pointed ; 

 margin tipped with few reddish glands, coarsely serrate ; 

 petiole 1% inches long. Flowers open early, 1>4 inches 

 across. Fruit ripens in late October and November ; 

 small to medium, irregular, oblate-pyriform ; stem % 

 inch long, stout ; cavity variable in width, shallow, 

 irregular ; calyx small, closed ; lobes erect, acute ; basin 

 variable in width v deep ; skin roughened with russet, 

 uneven ; color pale yellow, largely overspread with thin 

 cinnamon-russet, sometimes faintly blushed on the ex- 

 posed cheek ; dots distinct, cinnamon-russet ; flesh 

 yellowish-white, coarse, melting, buttery, juicy, highly 

 aromatic, with a rich perfume, sweet ; quality very good. 



CAREER. Garber's Hybrid. A few trivial 

 differences separate Garber from Kieffer. The 

 pears ripen a week or two earlier than those of 

 Kieffer, are a little rounder, flatter at the ends, 

 and some say are a little better in quality 

 certainly they are no worse to eat out of 

 hand. The tree is hardy to heat and cold, and 

 is much planted in the Mississippi Valley, 

 North and South. The variety might be spar- 

 ingly planted as an ornamental. Garber is 

 one of many seedlings of the Chinese Sand 

 pear, raised by J. B. Garber, Columbia, Penn- 

 sylvania. 



GIFFORD: See Beurre Gifford. 



GLOU MORCEAU. This old winter pear 

 is nearly lost to cultivation, but is worth 

 growing because of the high quality of the 

 fruit, and because the pears come in season 

 in early winter when there are few others. 

 The fruits are not attractively colored, but are 

 rich and sugary without the least trace of acid, 

 though when poorly grown are often astrin- 

 gent. The quality is better in fruits from 

 dwarf trees, and is better, also, when grown 

 on heavy soils than on light ones. The fruits 

 keep and ship remarkably well. The trees are 



