PEARS AS A DESSERT AND CANNED 
IDA M. ANGELL 
Not Prized as Highly as It Would Be if More Housewives Knew Its Culinary 
Possibilities, this Delicious Fruit Needs Our Attention Drawn to Its Many Merits 
/?■ EARS that will carry well to market, and Pears that 
havs good selling qualities are offered in great numbers, 
and are all very fine — but what interests the house- 
keeper most of all are the kinds that make the best table 
fruits, and that are the most satisfac- 
tory for filling the preserve closet. 
And from my own experience I re- 
commend a Clapp, a Bartlett, and a 
Seckel tree. These three will give an 
almost continuous supplyfrom August 
first until well into October — and 
many for canning one way or an- 
other. 
Pears should never be left on the 
tree until ripe, however. The Clapp 
so treated is pretty sure to rot at the 
" core, and so do some others. The 
time for picking is when they are fully 
colored and have reached full size, 
and the stem snaps easily from the 
twig. They will still be very hard 
at this stage, but must be ripened 
indoors to be at their best. Clapps 
are ready for picking and smothering 
about the middle of August; this is 
about two weeks before they would 
ripen if left on the tree. 
They are “ smothered ” by wrap- 
ping in papers or burying in sifted 
coal ashes, to keep them from light ancf air. A 
dry, cool, dark room is the best place to store 
them. If too warm they will, soften too rapidly 
. and rot. Making several pickings at intervals of 
a day or two, leaving the smallest and hardest till 
• the last, will prolong the season and avoid having 
too many all ripe at once. 
Careful hand picking, to prevent bruising, is the only way J 
to treat these Pears, which are of the large, early, melting 
type. One must remember that they haven’t the tough 
enduring qualities of apples. It does not take many days to 
soften them by the smothering process either — so watch them 
. closely, for when they once begin they will have to be sorted 
over every day to keep ahead of decay. 
But the Clapp is a hardy and productive tree, and is recom- 
mended for sections where other Pears fail. Many of the fruits 
reach half-pound size and this, with their fine shape and beauti- 
ful coloring, places them high on the list as a hand fruit. They 
are not as rich in flavor as a- Bartlett, but are nevertheless very 
. juicy and delightful. 
Pickand store the Bartlett in every way the same as the Clapp. 
■The season is about two weeks later, making it a convenient 
successor to the earlier variety. It is the better known of the 
two and has the reputation of being the most important Pear at 
the present time. It is an annual bearer and begins while the 
tree is quite young. It is also very productive. Bartletts are 
. longer keepers than Clapps, so that they nearly meet the Seckels. 
These last are the most excellent keepers, and very late. And 
no other sort can as a matter of fact surpass them in flavor. 
Any small garden without two or three Pear trees falls short 
of the profit and pleasure that it should produce. Our three 
trees mentioned here yield annually about ten bushels of fruit. 
The Flemish Beauty, a very rich-flavored Pear, was once a prime 
favorite, but of late years it has developed two bad traits, namely 
rotting at the core and cracking. The Kieffer Pear is inferior 
in fruit, but is popular because of its robustness, productiveness, 
and keeping qualities. Baking im- 
proves the flavor of this. 
Winter Pears are not as well 
known in the Eastern states as they 
deserve to be; by their help the Pear 
season is extended from August till 
spring and their keeping qualities 
equal those of apples, if they are 
given the proper care. And Pears 
are excellent material for the canning 
enthusiast, so there need be no waste 
whatsoever of the fruit. As it is 
possible to can them with wrong 
methods without retaining the quality 
which makes them so palatable and 
worth while, three old-time well tested 
Pear recipes are appended. 
BAKED PEARS 
All windfalls and odds and ends of hard pears 
can be put to a good use by baking. To any 
quantity of the peeled and cored. fruit take an 
eighth of the bulk in sugar and the- same quan- 
tity of water as sugar. Bake long and slowly in 
a pudding dish, covered. When a dark color 
THE OLD they are ready to use, or are excellent to can f<pr 
SECKEL PEAR future use. ' ■ j 
Growswell over a • *-*-"• ' , 
large section of ' ' CANNED CLAPPS .AND BARTLETTS 
though smalMs Both Clapps and Bartlettsare excellent canned, 
highly flavored the former being distinguished for their beautiful 
cropper 3 ^^! appearance and tenderness, and the latter for 
variety for the their rich flavor. An old rule is the following— 
r home garden only well ripened pears being used: — Make a 
syrup of the proportion of one cup of sugar 
to two cups of water. When this is boiling add enough 
peeled pieces of the fruit to fill one or two jars and cook until 
tender, but not too soft to hold the shape well. Fill heated 
jars and pour in enough syrup to fill every crack and cover 
as usual. (If opened a couple of hours before using the natural 
flavor will be restored. Canned fruit used as soon as opened 
is insipid.) 
PEAR JAM 
Pear jam does not appear in many cook books. Here is an 
old rule: In the first place, make it a point to do the canning 
and the jam making on the same day. Put every perfect piece 
in one bowl for the canning, and all imperfectly shaped pieces, 
or those that are too soft into another, for jam. This insures 
only choice fruit for canning, and just as much jam, and just as 
good, without wasting any of the choicer fruit unnecessarily. 
Break up the peeled fruit with a potato masher. Add a half- 
pound, or more, of sugar, to a pound of fruit, according to the 
sweetness desired. Cook slowly until the fruit is transparent 
and very soft, then jar in the same manner as any jam. It 
might be well called “pear honey’’ as the flavor is suggestive of 
honey. 
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