226 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
Benjamin Macomber, Grand Isle, Vermont, more than forty years ago. 
Macomber maintained a small nursery, and this pear was one of several 
hundreds planted for stock. The tree was budded in the usual manner, 
but the bud failed to grow, and the original tree was allowed to stand 
without another budding. After the variety fruited, it attracted so much 
attention that Macomber propagated it. Later, it was introduced by 
W. P. Rupert and Son, Seneca, New York. The American Pomological 
Society, recognizing its worth, added the variety to its fruit-catalog in 
1899. There has long been doubt in the minds of the writers as to whether 
Vermont Beauty is distinct from Forelle. Careful comparison has been 
made of the fruit- and tree-characters of the two sorts, and it is found that 
they are so closely allied as to be indistinguishable. It is possible that a 
tree of the old German pear may have found its way into Macomber’s 
nursery and received the new name. 
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, dense-topped, hardy, productive; 
trunk stocky, shaggy; branches zigzag, reddish-brown, thinly overspread with gray scarf- 
skin, with numerous large lenticels; branchlets very thick, long, reddish-brown mingled 
with green, thickly covered with ash-gray scarf-skin near the tips, smooth, glabrous except 
near the ends of the new growth, sprinkled with numerous small, roundish, conspicuous, 
raised lenticels. 
Leaf-buds small, short, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 22 in. long, 13 in. wide, leathery; 
apex abruptly- or taper-pointed; margin glandless, finely serrate; petiole 2 in. long, glabrous, 
slender, pinkish-green. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, singly on short 
spurs; flowers characteristically small, average 1 in. across, in dense clusters, about 6 buds 
in a cluster, the petals unusually small; pedicels in. long, slender, pubescent. 
Fruit ripe in late October and November; medium in size, 2} in. long, 2 in. wide, 
obovate-acute-pyriform, symmetrical; stem 2 in. long, curved; cavity extremely small or 
lacking, the flesh folded up around the base of the stem, occasionally lipped; calyx small, 
open; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, obtuse, 
smooth, symmetrical; skin thick, tough, smooth or with slight russet markings; color 
clear pale lemon-yellow, with a broad and brilliantly blushed cheek, fading at the sides into 
pinkish-red dots; dots numerous, very small, light russet, conspicuous; flesh tinged with 
yellow, granular at the center but fine-grained near the skin, tender and melting, very 
juicy, with a rich, vinous flavor; quality very good. Core closed, axile, with meeting core- 
lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute. 
VICAR OF WINKFIELD 
1. Gard. Chron. 20, fig. 1843. 2. Mag. Hort. 9:129, 269. 1843. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 448, fig. 
208. 1845. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 53. 1852. 5. Elliott Fr. Book 344, fig. 1854. 6. Jour. Hort. N.S. 
7:414. 1864. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 875, fig. 1869. 8. Hogg Fruit Man. 660. 1884. 
Vicar. 9. Mawe-Abercrombie Univ. Gard. Bot. 1778. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 40. 1883. rx. Ont. 
Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 183. 1914. 
