THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 223 
on the fruits of this variety as grown on the grounds of this Station and 
shown in the accompanying illustration. The tree is the most nearly 
perfect of that of any pear grown in America — the Kieffer, praiseworthy 
only in its tree, not excepted. The tree is certainly as hardy as that of 
any other variety, if not hardier, and resists better than that of any other 
sort the black scourge of blight. Add to these notable characters large 
size, great vigor, and fruitfulness, and it is seen that the trees are nearly 
flawless. The only fault is, and this a comparatively trifling one, that 
the trees are slow in coming in bearing. Tyson is the best pear of its season 
for the home orchard, and has much merit for commercial orchards. Were 
the fruits larger, it would rival Bartlett for the markets. No other variety 
offers so many good starting points for the pear-breeder. 
Tyson originated as a wilding found about 1794 in a hedge on the 
land of Jonathan Tyson, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The tree first bore 
fruit in 1800. The pears proved to be so good that Mr. Tyson distributed 
cions among his neighbors, but the variety was not generally disseminated. 
About 1837, a Doctor Mease of Philadelphia sent cions to B. V. French, 
Braintree, near Boston, who in turn distributed them among his friends. 
The variety fruited here about 1842, and the fruit was exhibited before 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society under the name Tyson. In 
1848, at the National Convention of Fruit-Growers, Tyson was recom- 
mended for general cultivation, and since that date the name has appeared 
continuously in the catalogs of the American Pomological Society. 
Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, dense-topped, hardy, productive; 
trunk very stocky, rough; branches thick, dull reddish-brown, overspread with gray scarf- 
skin, with few lenticels; branchlets slender, short, light brown mingled with green, smooth, 
glabrous, sprinkled with few small, inconspicuous lenticels. 
Leaf-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, appressed or free. Leaves 23 in. 
long, 1% in. wide, thin; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely and shallowly serrate; petiole 
1§ in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, free, singly on short spurs; 
flowers medium in season of bloom. 
Fruit matures in late August; medium in size, 2} in. long, 13 in. wide, roundish-acute- 
pyriform, with unequal sides; stem 12 in. long, curved; cavity very shallow, obtuse, 
roughened, usually drawing up as a lip about the base of the stem; calyx open, small; 
lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, flaring, slightly 
furrowed, compressed; skin tough, smooth, slightly russeted, dull; color deep yellow, 
usually blushed; dots numerous, very small, obscure; flesh tinged with yellow, granular 
around the basin, otherwise rather fine-grained, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet, 
aromatic; quality very good. Core small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube, 
short, wide, conical; seeds medium in size and width, plump, acute. 
