THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 187 
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, very productive; branches 
Slender, zigzag, reddish-brown overlaid with grayish scarf-skin, marked with numerous 
raised, large lenticels; branchlets slender, very long, with characteristically long internodes, 
tough, zigzag, marked with numerous large, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaves 3} in. 
long, 12 in. wide; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandless, serrate; petiole 2 in. long. 
Flowers early, showy, 1} in. across, in dense clusters, 6 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 
1 in. long, thick. 
Fruit ripens in August; large, 22 in. long, 34 in. wide, varies from obovate-obtuse- 
pyriform to globular-obtuse-pyriform, with unequal sides; stem 4 in. long, thick, curved, 
woody; cavity very small and narrow, often with a lip drawn up around one side of the 
stem; calyx partly open; lobes narrow, often reflexed; basin narrow, obtuse, gently fur- 
rowed; skin thin, tender, smooth; color pale yellow, overspread on the exposed cheek 
with a bright red blush; dots numerous, small, greenish or russet, obscure; flesh whitish 
or often salmon-color, firm, tough, medium juicy, lacking sweetness; quality poor. Core 
unusually small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds short, 
wide, plump, obtuse, few in number. 
LE CONTE 
1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 8, 29. 1878. 2. Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 303. 1879. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 
1883. 4. Gard. Mon. 27:282. 1885. §. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 55. 1885. 6. Black Cult. Peach & Pear 
234. 1886. 7. Cornell Sta. Bul. 332:484. 1913. 8. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 169. 1914. 
Le Conte is a hybrid between the Chinese Sand pear and a European 
sort, therefore similar in parentage to Kieffer which it greatly resembles 
in both tree and fruit. The fruits are rather poorer in quality than those 
of Kieffer, if that be possible for an edible fruit, and the tree is in no way 
superior to that of its better-known rival, but seems to succeed better in 
warm climates and light soils. There is, therefore, a place for Le Conte 
in the South, and possibly on parts of Long Island, if a pear is wanted for 
culinary purposes only. The fruits sometimes rot badly at the core, and 
should usually be harvested as soon as they attain full size. The trees 
are more susceptible to blight than those of Kieffer. In the South, the 
trees are often, if not usually, propagated from cuttings. 
Le Conte originated in America, and is probably a hybrid between the 
Chinese Sand pear and some native. It is supposed to have been carried 
from Philadelphia to Georgia about 1850 by Major Le Conte, and has 
since been extensively cultivated in the southern States for northern 
markets. In 1885 it was recommended by the Georgia Horticultural 
Society for cultivation in the middle region of that State. The American 
Pomological Society added Le Conte to its fruit-catalog in 1883. 
