56 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
bred with this combination in view have been announced, and the number 
of these hybrids is certain to be increased as time goes on. 
The advent of Russian pears in the United States must also be 
mentioned as a notable event in the history of this fruit. Russian pears 
are hardy strains of Pyrus communis grown from time immemorial in 
Russia. The fruits of these Russian varieties are low in quality, but the 
trees are much hardier than those of strains coming from more southern 
parts of Europe. Some seventy or eighty of these hardy pears have been 
imported from Russia, the first shipment coming in 1879 from St. Petersburg. 
For a few years importations followed rapidly, and fruit-growers in cold 
regions had high hopes of being able to grow pears in competition with 
growers in more favored regions. The fruits turned out to be so poor in 
quality and the trees so subject to blight, however, that the cultivation of 
all but a few varieties has ceased. Of the whole number, Bessemianka, 
possibly, is the only one worthy of comparison with the pears of southern 
Europe, and this sort is rated as poor where the southern pears are grown. 
Professor J. L. Budd,! Ames, Iowa, and Charles Gibb, Montreal, Canada, 
were the two men most instrumental in bringing these pears to America. 
The chief import of these brief records of the origin and history of 
cultivated pears in several countries is to show the evolution of this fruit. 
It is hoped that the chapter will furnish inspiration for further amelioration 
of the pear, and that it contains facts that will be helpful in the future 
development of this fruit. The men, times, and places have historical 
and narrative interest to pomologists; but these are quite secondary to 
the knowledge of what the raw material was from which our pear flora 
has been fashioned, and the methods of domestication that were employed. 
This chapter is only a sketch — the briefest possible outline of how the 
leading types of pears came to be, and how and when they came to America. 
‘For an account of the life and work of Budd, see The Plums of New York, page 145. 
