BEURRÉ DIEL
1. Pom. Mag. 1:19, Pl. 1828. 2. Ibid. 3:131, Pl. 1830. 3. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 392. 1831. 4. Kenrick Am. Orch. 189. 1832. 5. Ibid. 156. 1841. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 360, fig. 153. 1845. 7. Gard. Chron. 856. 1845. 8. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:77, Pl. 1851. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 231. 1854. 10. Pom. France 1: No. 7, Pl. 7. 1863. 11. Mas Le Verger 1:137, fig. 67. 1866-73. 12. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:349, fig. 1867. 13. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 686, fig. 1869. 14. Hogg Fruit Man. 518. 1884. 15. Guide Prat. 234. 1895.
Diel’s Butterbirne. 16. Liegel Syst. Anleit. 110. 1825. 17. Lauche Deut. Pom. 11: No. 8, Pl. 8. 1882. 18. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 203. 1889.
Diel. 19. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883.
The catalogs and text-books supply Beurré Diel with several virtues which Nature denies it as the variety grows in New York. As grown in the eastern United States, the pears are dull and unattractive even at maturity when the pale lemon color is brightest. When the tree is happily situated as to soil and care, the quality of its product is excellent, its fruits being delicious and ranking among the very best, but when illy suited to soil, climate or care, the flesh is coarse, the flavor insipid and astringent, bringing the quality down to second or third rate. The pears keep and ship well. The tree is hardy, uncommonly vigorous and fruitful, but very subject to blight; it is characterized by its long twisting branches which need to be pruned back heavily. The variety is still being planted, but there are better autumn pears.
This variety came from a chance seedling found near Brussels in 1805 by M. Meuris, head gardener for Dr. Van Mons. Being unnamed and of fine quality, Van Mons dedicated it to his German friend, Diel, one of the most distinguished German pomologists. Van Mons sent cions of the variety to the London Horticultural Society in 1817. In 1823, Thomas Andrew Knight sent cions to the Massachusetts Agricultural Society whence it became disseminated generally throughout the United States. The American Pomological Society placed this variety upon its fruit catalog-list in 1854.
Tree medium in size and vigor, spreading, open-topped, slow-growing, hardy, productive; trunk slender, smooth; branches slender, twisting, reddish-brown mingled with grayish scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets with short internodes, dark reddish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with few small, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds obtuse, free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2¾ in. long, 1¾ in. wide, oval, thick, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long. Flower-buds large, long, conical, rather plump, free; flowers open early, nearly 1⅜ in. across, showy, in dense clusters, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅛ in. long, pubescent, greenish.
Fruit ripe in November; large, 3 in. long, 2⅜ in. wide, uniform in size, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, often irregular and usually with sides unequal; stem 1¼ in. long, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, shallow, very narrow, russeted, furrowed and uneven, often lipped; calyx partly open, large; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute; basin shallow, obtuse, furrowed and uneven; skin very thick and granular, somewhat roughened by russet markings and by dots; color lemon-yellow, with a faint pinkish-red blush and markings and flecks of russet; dots many, russet, very conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, firm, becoming tender and melting, quite granular around the core, very juicy, sweet, aromatic and rich; quality very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, often abortive, acute.
