pear history

There is compelling archaeological evidence from excavation by ancient lake dwellers in Switzerland that the European pear, Pyrus communis L., was known to that civilization. The pear is believed to have been known to prehistoric man, but there is disagreement as to whether the apple or the pear came first. The ancient pear tree of Europe was fundamentally different from the Asian pear tree, Prunus pyrifolia.

English records show that in 1629 “the Massachusetts Company sent pear stones to New England settlers” to plant and grow into trees in Plymouth, MA.

On March 30, 1763, the famous American George Mason, made an entry in his extensive orchard journal: “grafted 10 black Worchester pears from Collo… these are a large (coarse) baking fruit” and an ancient variety French pear. .

Fort Frederica on Saint Simons Island, Georgia, was established by English settlers in 1733, at the same time the city of Savannah was established. To allow the settlers self-sufficient food reserves, General Oglethorpe developed a plan to introduce trees and plants to grow in both temperate and subtropical climates that would prove valuable for future farms and nut and fruit tree orchards in Georgia. These goals were reported according to William Bartram in the book His Travels, which was published in 1773, 40 years later. John Bartram, the father and traveling companion of William Bartram, made his research trip to eastern Florida, Carolina, and Georgia in part to investigate plant resources and inventories left to the English by the Spanish as colonial acquisitions.

The Prince Nursery was established as the first American nursery for the collection, cultivation, and sale of plants and trees in Flushing, New York in 1737. The Prince Nursery advertised “42 pear trees for sale in 1771.”

John Bartram planted the seed of a pear tree in 1793, and this ancient tree grew and produced fruit until the year 1933.

The great American botanist hybridizer and writer of his epic and monumental 12-volume account of his observations of plant development over many years by Luther Burbank claimed that there were basically two genetic lines of pears that he and others had used to improve the commercial quality of pear trees and their fruiting. The European pear, Pyrus communis L., the Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, also called Korean pear, Japanese pear, Chinese pear, and Taiwanese pear. These were crossed for gene shuffling to filter out the complex mixes of traits that would hopefully produce superior fruit.

Bartram wrote in his ‘Fruit Improvement’ of a pear hybrid that appeared on a farm near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the result of a European pear and the Chinese sand pear that had been planted on the farm as ornamental garden trees. This hybrid was produced on the estate of Mr. Peter Kieffer, which is why it bears his name for the first hybridized Oriental pear tree. The “Kieffer” pear has a pleasant aroma; It is a beautiful and graceful tree with huge white blossoms, but this pear is best when cooked in preserves or cakes due to its firmness. Cold and disease resistance make this pear a valuable variety that remains the best-selling pear tree even today.

Other Oriental pear trees that made it into popular nursery mail-order catalogs included Le Conte, Garber, and Smith pear trees. These pear trees became standard cultivars for garden plantings in the Gulf states, where European pear trees do not grow well.

Other varieties of pears developed in California were described as large in size, with delicate colors, fragrance, and excellent quality. One of these hybrid pears was nine inches tall and five pounds, a single fruit.

Burbank noted that the trade of pear fruit with large pears is due to packing, grading and shipping issues, and the average pear fruit buyer often does not prefer large pears. The northwestern United States produces the most commercial pears, generally due to the exceptional dessert quality of the fruit. The oldest sensation on the pear market is Bartlett (Williams), which grows in a group called “Winter Pears”, which includes other varieties. Comice, D’Anjou, Bosc, Red D’Anjou and Concorde pears. These cultivars have a very restricted area of ​​successful growth, due to their fragile lineage from the European pear, Pyrus communis, and are not recommended for growing in most regions of the United States.

The pear tree is unique as a non-shrinking fruit and is easily recognizable by its normal description which refers to the shape of the fruit, “pear-shaped”, a specific shape that everyone understands. Pear buyers are highly biased in buying a pear in the shape they are accused of, and will often reject the Asian pear, ‘Pyrus pyrifolia, a round or apple-shaped fruit. The texture of pears is unique among fruits along with aroma, flavor, and the idea that pears (European clones) must be picked from the tree to ripen later; while Asian pears are best left on the trees to ripen and develop their full flavor.

The skin of pears grows in a wide range of colours, green, yellow, orange, red and mottled, and this makes a great shield from the eyes of birds and other animals. Pear trees require longer periods of maturity to begin bearing fruit than most other fruit trees, but the tree will produce sooner if grafted onto a dwarf quince rootstock; however, most tree dealers offer semi-dwarf trees for sale, and of course, larger trees start fruiting earlier than small trees. Asian pear trees produce fruit earlier than trees with European pear ancestry. One factor that has retarded the spread of pear trees since ancient times is the fact that the seeds show poor germination success unless moist and most travelers on the ancient “Silk Road” trade routes. they dried the seed to sell or exchange it.

American fruit shoppers have shown a dramatic and growing interest in purchasing fresh pears at the grocery store over the past 25 years. USDA resources indicate that per capita consumption of fresh table-quality pears has increased more than most fruits, while the purchase of fresh peaches has decreased. Fresh pears can be kept at near freezing temperatures for up to 5 months for later purchase by the consumer. For backyard gardeners, pear trees can grow 20 to 30 feet on semidwarf rootstocks and are well adapted to growing in most soils, even poorly draining soils, preferably in the 6 to 7 pH range. Pear trees will grow and tolerate temperatures to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Burbank made many strange crosses with pear trees. He crossed pears with apples and quince; however, those hybrid trees did not grow to produce acceptable fruit.

Pear fruits contain antioxidants and are fat-free, with health benefits from vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, niacin, and the minerals calcium, phosphorus, iron, and potassium.

Many cultivars of pears are recommended for planting. Ayers Pear, Baldwin Pear, Columbus Red Pear, Floridahome Pear, Hood Pear, Kieffer Pear, Leconte Pear, Moonglow Pear, Orient Pear, Pineapple Pear, Sand Pear, and Warren Pear. Four varieties of Asian pears are also planted: the Korean Giant Pear, the Hosui Pear, the Shinseiki Pear and the 20th Century Pear.

There are also four varieties of non-fruiting flowering pears. Bradford flowering pear, Cleveland flowering pear, Aristocrat flowering pear, and Autumn Blaze flowering pears.

Copyright 2006 Patrick Malcolm