IDAHO 



KIEFFER 



91 



IDAHO. There is much difference of opin- 

 ion as to the value of Idaho. Without ques- 

 tion, the variety is of considerable worth in 

 parts of the Pacific Northwest, especially in 

 regions where hardihood is a prime requi- 

 site. In the East, the pears are only medium 

 in size, but they are attractive in color and 

 of excellent taste. The core is small, and the 

 seeds are often abortive and sometimes want- 

 ing. The flesh is tender, buttery and almost 

 free from granulation, with a rich, sweet, 

 vinous flavor which make the rating for this 

 fruit "good to very good." In many regions, 

 the pears are large, rough and gross some- 

 times a facsimile of Duchesse d'Angouleme. 

 The trees are rather dwarf and are fruitful to 

 a fault, so that the pears often run small; 

 they are hardier than those of almost any 

 other pear and bear annually. To offset these 

 good characters, the trees have the fault of 

 blighting, so that the variety is of value only 

 in regions where blight is not an annual scourge 

 of this fruit. Idaho was raised from seed of 

 an unknown variety about the year 1867 by 

 a Mrs. Mulkey, Lewiston, Idaho. 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, very produc- 

 tive ; branches slender, smooth, reddish-brown, sprinkled 

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

 inches wide, leathery ; apex abruptly pointed ; margin 

 glandular, finely serrate ; petiole 2 inches long. Flowers 

 showy, 1% inches across, in dense clusters, nearly in 

 racemes, average 8 buds in a cluster. Fruit matures late 

 September-October ; medium in size, 2 inches long, 2 VB 

 inches wide, roundish, slightly pyriform, symmetrical ; 

 stem 1 inch long, thick, slightly curved ; caviiy acute, 

 narrow, furrowed, slightly lipped ; calyx closed ; lobes 

 broad, acute ; basin shallow, obtuse, 'somewhat furrowed ; 

 skin thick and granular, tough, roughish ; color dull 

 lemon-yellow, tinged with green, dotted and streaked 

 with russet, splashed with russet patches ; dots numerous, 

 small, russet, conspicuous ; flesh dull white, tinged with 

 yellow, firm, tender, buttery, juicy, sweet, rich, almost 

 vinous ; quality good to very good ; core closed, with 

 clasping core-lines ; calyx-tube short, wide, conical ; 

 seeds wide, acute. 



JARGONELLE. At one time the best sec- 

 ond early pear, Jargonelle is now little grown 

 in America, native varieties having crowded 

 it out. The crop ripens two or three weeks 

 before that of Bartlett. The fruits are as 

 attractive as any of their season, and are 

 unique in shape and in having a long curved 

 stem. The quality leaves much to be desired. 

 The flesh is coarse, rather gritty, and the flavor 

 lacks the rich sugary taste on the one hand, 

 or the refreshing piquancy on the other hand, 

 of good pears. The fruits rot at the core, 

 and the season is short. The crop should be 

 picked early and ripened in the house. The 

 trees are large, vigorous and sometimes very 

 productive, but are coarse, untidy bearers, and 

 are often uncertain in bearing. Jargonelle is 

 one of the oldest of all varieties, according to 

 some, dating back to before the time of Christ. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, rapid- 

 growing, hardy, very productive, long-lived ; trunk 

 shaggy ; branches reddish-brown, with large lenticels. 

 Leaves 3 *4 inches long, 2 inches wide, leathery ; apex 

 taper-pointed ; margin tipped with few small, black 

 glands, finely serrate ; petiole 3 inches long, slender, 

 tinged with red, glabrous. Flowers late, showy, 1% 

 inches across, in dense clusters, from 8 to 14 buds in a 

 cluster. Fruit ripe in late August ; above medium in 



size, 3 % inches long, 2 tyie inches wide, oblong-ovate- 

 pyriform, with an acute neck ; stem characteristically 

 long and curved, 1 % inches long ; cavity lacking, the 

 flesh holding up around the base of the stem, russeted, 

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

 broad, acute ; basin very shallow and narrow, obtuse, 

 gently furrowed, compiessed ; skin smooth ; color yellow, 

 with a bright reddish-pink blush laid thinly over the 

 exposed cheek in streaks and splashes, when poorly 

 grown without blush ; dots numerous, greenish-russet, 

 very small, obscure ; flesh yellowish-white, granular under 

 the skin, gritty at the center, melting, very juicy, 

 subacid, aromatic, vinous ; quality very good ; core 

 large, open, with clasping core-lines ; calyx-tube long, 

 narrow, conical ; seeds large, wide, long, plump, acute. 



JOSE'PHINE DE MALINES. Fig. 85. 



Malines. This is one of the few good winter 

 pears. Its fruit-characters are so distinctive 

 and meritorious that the variety should be 

 grown in every home orchard. The fruits have 

 a marked peculiarity; cut through the shaded 

 yellow-russet skin, 

 flesh with a faint, rosy 

 tint is displayed. But 

 it is the quality of the 

 fruits that commends 

 the variety most. The 

 flesh is buttery, juicy, 

 sweet, and perfumed 

 pleasing in every char- 

 acter that gratifies the 

 palate. The season is 

 exceedingly variable, 

 being given variously 

 by pomologists from 

 December to March 

 and January to May. 

 In the orchard, the 

 trees are satisfactory, 85. Josephine de 

 but nurserymen find Malines. (X 1 /^) 



them difficult to grow ; 



this, no doubt, is the chief reason for the neg- 

 lect of this excellent pear. The trees thrive in 

 almost any soil or situation suitable to pears, 

 and are fruitful, hardy, and resistant to blight. 

 The variety deserves wider recognition than 

 it now receives. This pear originated about 

 1830 in the seed-beds of Major Esperen, the 

 well-known pomologist of Mechlin, Belgium. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, tall, dense-topped, 

 rapid-growing, hardy, very productive ; trunk stocky ; 

 branches thick, shaggy, reddish-brown, marked with 

 few lenticels. Leaves 2*4 inches long, 1^4 inches wide, 

 leathery ; apex taper-pointed ; margin finely serrate ; 

 petiole 1% inches long. Flowers early, 1% inches 

 across, white, occasionally tinged with pink, well dis- 

 tributed, average 7 buds in a cluster. Fruit ripe 

 December-February ; medium in size, turbinate, inclined 

 to truncate ; stem long, very thick ; cavity obtuse, 

 shallow, narrow, slightly furrowed ; calyx large, open ; 

 lobes short, broad, obtuse ; basin narrow, obtuse, smooth ; 

 skin thick, tough, dull ; color pale greenish-yellow, 

 netted and patched more or less with russet ; dots nu- 

 merous, small, brown or russet, conspicuous ; flesh 

 pinkish-white, firm, granular, melting, buttery, very 

 juicy, sweet, slightly aromatic ; quality good ; core 

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

 short, wide ; carpels pyriform ; seeds large, wide, long, 

 plump, acuminate. 



KIEFFER. Fig. 86. Although the most 

 pretentious cheat in the orchard, Kieffer is 

 grown more commonly than any other pear in 

 North America excepting Bartlett. Its great 

 popularity can be accounted for only by ac- 

 cepting Barnum's dictum that "Americans love 



