DOYENNÉ BOUSSOCK
1. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:31, Pl. 1851. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 210. 1856. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 742, fig. 1869.
Doyenne Boussock Nouvelle. 4. Kenrick Am. Orch. 143. 1841.
Beurré de Mérode. 5. Ann. Pom. Belge 5:81, Pl. 1857.
Doyenné de Mérode. 6. Pom. France 2: No. 86, Pl. 86. 1864. 8. Guide Prat. 64, 266. 1876. 7. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 171, fig. 84. 1866-73.
Doyenné Boussock. 9. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:58, fig. 1869. 10. Hogg Fruit Man. 564. 1884.
Boussock. 11. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883.
Doppelte Philippsbirne. 12. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 204. 1889. 13. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 33, Pl. 61. 1894.
This old Belgian pear is a leader in the second rank of commercial pears in this country. If the fruits were better in quality and kept a little longer, the variety would take rank among the best commercial pears, for the fruits are handsome and the trees are nearly flawless. As the color-plate shows, there are few pears more attractive than this one, but the briskly acid flavor is not pleasing to many, and the fruits become soft at the center soon after ripening. The pears are above medium in size and are sometimes large or very large. The seeds are often abortive. The trees are very large and vigorous, as hardy as those of any other pear to cold, less susceptible to blight than most of their orchard associates, and are remarkable for their prominent buds and large, thick, glossy-green leaves, which turn deep red in the autumn. On some soils the trees do not hold their crop well, and it is always best to plant them where there is some protection against heavy winds. The trees are prodigious bearers, and fruit regularly, characters which make the variety desirable for local markets.
This pear is supposed to have been raised by Van Mons at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was placed on sale at Brussels about 1819. The variety was first given the name Doyenné de Mérode in honor of the Comté de Mérode of Waterloo, Belgium. In 1836, however, the name was changed to Doyenné Boussock. The catalog of the Horticultural Society of London shows that it was received in England in 1842. William Kenrick, on his return from Europe in the spring of 1841, brought the variety to America. In 1856 the American Pomological Society added this pear to its fruit-list.
Tree very large, vigorous, upright-spreading, tall, hardy, productive; trunk thick, shaggy; branches stocky, shaggy, grayish-brown; branchlets long, with long intemodes, light brown tinged with red, overspread with ash-gray, smooth, glabrous, with few elongated, raised, inconspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, sharply pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 3½ in. long, 1⅞ in. wide, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin very finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, slender. Flower-buds small, long and narrow, conical, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers early, showy, 1⅝ in. across, in dense clusters, average 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅛ in. long, thick, pubescent.
Fruit ripe in September; large, 3 in. long, 2¾ in. wide, uniform, obtuse-obovate-pyriform, symmetrical; stem 1 in. long, very thick; cavity obtuse, rather shallow, broad, often russeted, furrowed, lipped; calyx large, open; lobes separated at the base, broad, acute; basin shallow, wide, obtuse, gently furrowed and wrinkled; skin thin, tender, smooth except for the russet nettings; color pale yellow, occasionally with a mottled pinkish-red blush on the exposed cheek, more or less netted with russet; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh white, tender and melting, buttery, very juicy, briskly acid; quality good. Core large, closed, axile, with meeting core-lines; calyx-tube very short, wide, broadly conical; seeds black, narrow, long, flattened, often abortive.
