BEURRÉ HARDY
1. Barry Fr. Garden 314. 1851. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 466. 1857. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 66. 1862. 4. Pom. France 2: No. 46, Pl. 46. 1864. 5. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 11, fig. 4. 1866-73. 6. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:379, fig. 1867. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 521. 1884. 8. Soc. Nat. Hort. France Pom. 378, fig. 1904.
Hardy. 9. Gard. Chron. 463. 1863. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 38. 1883.
Gellert’s Butterbirne. 11. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 38, Pl. 78. 1894.
Beurré Hardy is one of the good autumn pears. Both fruit and tree commend it. The fruits are usually large; are handsome in appearance; and the flesh and flavor are exceptionally fine. Thus, the flesh, while a little granular at the core, is melting, juicy, and richly aromatic,—as truly luscious as in any other pear. Unfortunately the fruits do not keep well, having a tendency to soften at the core as maturity advances. When poorly grown or not properly ripened, the pears are sometimes a little astringent, and there is always a smack of astringency. The trees, while not large, are vigorous, hardy, productive, and healthy except in being a little susceptible to blight. This is a favorite pear with nurserymen to bud or graft on the quince, Japanese pear stocks, or other stocks, since it makes a perfect union with any of those in common use. The tree is one of the best dwarfs, also, for its own crop. Wherever pears are grown, this is a good dessert sort, and in many regions it is a valuable fruit for commerce. Beurré Hardy does especially well in New York and in eastern United States.
This is a French pear raised about 1820 by M. Bonnet, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. In 1830, it was acquired by M. Jean-Laurent Jamin, a nurseryman near Paris, who named it in honor of M. Hardy, Director and Professor of Arboriculture at the Garden of the Luxembourg. It was propagated, made known, and distributed by M. Jamin between 1840 and 1845. The American Pomological Society added Beurré Hardy to its list of recommended fruits in 1862.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, hardy, productive; trunk stocky; branches smooth, dull brown overspread with gray, marked more or less with scarf-skin, with very numerous large, elongated lenticels; branchlets thick, greenish-brown, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with numerous small, raised, conspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds conical, pointed, plump, usually free; leaf-scars prominent. Leaves 2½ in. long, 2 in. wide, stiff; apex abruptly pointed; margin tipped with small glands, finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, pointed, plump, free, singly or in small clusters on short spurs; flowers 1¼ in. across, well distributed, average 9 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. long, pubescent, reddish-green.
Fruit in season, late September and early October; large, 3 in. long, 2¼ in. wide, uniform, obtuse-pyriform, with a rather long neck, symmetrical; stem ⅞ in. long, thick, slightly curved; cavity obtuse, very shallow and narrow, russeted, often uneven and gently furrowed, lipped; calyx large, open; lobes broad, acute; basin shallow, narrow, obtuse, gently furrowed; skin granular, tender, russet; color dull greenish-yellow, overspread with thin, brownish-russet, without blush; dots numerous, russet, small, very conspicuous; flesh granular, melting, buttery, very juicy, sweet, richly aromatic and somewhat vinous; quality very good to best. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, acute.