POUND 



REEDER 



99 



Bartlett, and as the fruits are flavored very dif- 

 ferently, being more piquant and refreshing, and 

 are ordinarily larger and handsomer, Pitmaston 

 ought to make a good market sort where 

 the variety thrives. The subacid flavor makes 

 this one of the very best pears for culinary 

 purposes. The fruits keep and ship well. The 

 trees have fewer faults than those of most 

 of the standard varieties. They are hardy, 

 vigorous, fairly immune to blight, and while 

 but moderately productive, bear annually, and 

 the large size of the fruits make them high 

 yielders. The variety should be put on pro- 

 bation by those who grow for the markets, and 

 is well worthy a place in all home orchards. 

 Pitmaston was raised by John Williams, Pit- 

 maston, England, in 1841. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, dense-topped ; trunk 

 stocky, shaggy ; branches thick, slightly zigzag, reddish- 

 brown, marked with numerous, large lenticels. Leaves 

 21/2 inches long, 1% inches wide, leathery; apex abruptly 

 pointed ; margin finely serrate; petiole 1% inches long. 

 Flowers showy, 1% inches across, well distributed, 

 average 7 buds in a cluster. Fruit ripe in October ; 

 large, 3*4 inches long, 2% inches wide, oblong-obovate- 

 pyriform, symmetrical ; stem 1 inch long, thick, often 

 curved ; cavity very shallow and very narrow or lacking, 

 the flesh drawn up in a wrinkled fold around the base 

 of the stem, often lipped ; calyx closed, large ; lobes 

 long, broad, acute ; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed 

 and wrinkled ; skin thin, granular, smooth, tender, dull ; 

 color pale lemon-yellow, dotted and patched with light 

 russet, especially around the stem, without blush ; dots 

 numerous, small, russet, conspicuous ; flesh tinged with 

 yellow, firm, somewhat granular, melting, buttery, very 

 juicy, piquant and vinous ; quality good to very good ; 

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

 short, wide, conical ; seeds narrow, long, flat, acute, 

 very often abortive. 



POUND. Pound is grown in collections for 

 its monstrous fruits. The pears not infre- 

 quently weigh three pounds, and one is noted 

 weighing four pounds, nine ounces. The pears 

 are coarse in form, texture and flavor but one 

 degree better in flavor than the potato-like 

 fruits of Kieffer and even more sappy. The 

 pears keep well, and are fairly good for culinary 

 purposes. The trees are unusually satisfactory, 

 because of which the variety should make a 

 good parent from which to breed. This is a 

 very old pear of uncertain origin, possibly dat- 

 ing back to Pliny, who wrote about eighty 

 years after the beginning of the Christian 

 era. 



Tree upright, dense-topped, hardy, very productive ; 

 trunk stocky, shaggy ; branches thick, shaggy, zigzag, 

 dull reddish-brown, marked with many large lenticels. 

 Leaves 3% inches long, 1% inches wide, ovate, thin, 

 stiff ; apex taper-pointed ; margin glandular, finely ser- 

 rate ; petiole 1 % inches long, slender. Flowers open 

 early, 1% inches across, large, well distributed, average 

 7 buds in a cluster. Fruit matures in February ; large, 

 4 inches long, 2% inches wide, obovate-acute-pyri- 

 form, with unequal sides ; stem long, thick, curved ; 

 cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow,- russeted, furrowed, drawn 

 up in a fleshy ring about the stem ; calyx large, open ; 

 lobes separated at the base, obtuse ; basin shallow, 

 narrow, obtuse, slightly furrowed, symmetrical ; skin 

 thick, tough, dull, roughened by the dots and by russet 

 markings ; color golden-yellow, often marked on the 

 exposed cheek with a bronze or pinkish blush ; dots 

 numerous, russet, very conspicuous ; flesh yellowish, 

 firm, granular, very tough, subacid, inferior in flavor ; 

 quality very poor ; core large, closed, axile, with meet- 

 ing core-lines ; calyx-tube short, wide, conical ; carpels 

 pear-shaped ; seeds very large, brownish-black, wide, 

 long, acuminate. 



PRESIDENT DROUARD. Fig. 93. Drou- 

 ard. President Drouard is a comparatively 

 new pear in America, and in its probationary 

 period the fruits are making a favorable im- 

 pression. The pears ripen in late autumn and 

 are of the type of those of Beurre d'Anjou, a 



93. President Drouard. (X%) 



little yellower in color, and, all in all, more 

 attractive in appearance. The quality is none 

 too good for dessert. The trees are hardy and 

 vigorous but blight rather badly. The variety 

 is worth trying for the markets. President 

 Drouard is a chance seedling found in the 

 suburbs of Pont-de-Ce, France, by M. Olivier, 

 about 1886. 



Tree of medium size, spreading, open-topped, hardy ; 

 branches reddish-brown, marked with small lenticels. 

 Leaves 3 inches long, 1% inches wide, oval, thick, 

 leathery ; apex taper-pointed ; margin glandless or with 

 but few glands, entire or coarsely serrate ; petiole 

 glabrous, greenish, thick, 1% inches long, tinged red. 

 Flowers 1% inches across, in dense clusters, 6 to 9 

 buds in a cluster. Fruit in season from late November 

 to December ; large, averaging 3 % inches long, 3 inches 

 wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform, with unequal sides ; stem 

 1 inch long, very thick and woody ; cavity obtuse, deep, 

 irregular, furrowed, usually lipped ; calyx large, open ; 

 lobes separated at the base, long, narrow, acuminate ; 

 basin deep, abrupt, usually smooth but sometimes gently 

 furrowed ; skin thick, tough, rough, dull ; color clear 

 lemon-yellow, with nettings and streaks of russet ; dots 

 numerous, small, russet, obscure ; flesh tinged with 

 yellow ; very granular at the core, tender and melting, 

 buttery, juicy, aromatic, sweet ; quality good ; core 

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

 short, wide, conical ; seeds large, vride, long, plump, 

 acute, occasionally abortive. 



REEDER. Reeder is another of the pears 

 too good to discard, and not quite good enough 

 to give an ardent recommendation. In quality 

 the fruits rank but little below those of Seckel ; 

 are about the same size as grown under aver- 

 age conditions; but are even duller and less 

 attractive in color than the modest fruits of 

 Seckel. The variety has a place in the home 

 and markets as a pear to follow Seckel, as the 

 crop comes in season just after that of Seckel 

 passes out. The trees make but a short, slender 



