GANSEL SECKEL
1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 502. 1857. 2. Ibid. 770. 1869.
Gansel-Seckle. 3. Jour. Hort. N. S. 20:30, fig. 1871. 4. Hogg Fruit Man. 585. 1884. 5. Jour. Hort. 3rd Ser. 23:464. 1891. 6. Bunyard Handb. Hardy Fr. 177. 1920.
There are no good reasons why this pear should be grown, it having received much more attention than it deserves during the half century it has been in America. Perhaps it suffices to say that the fruits and trees are in no way equal, except in size of fruit, to those of Seckel, with which variety it would compete, although the crop ripens a little later. While the pears are larger than those of Seckel, the yield is not as great as the trees do not bear as regularly, nor abundantly. The fruits are not as well flavored, nor as attractively colored. The variety is still offered by many nurserymen, most of whom, however, condemn it with faint praise.
According to Bunyard, Gansel Seckel was raised from seed a century ago by a Mr. Williams of Pitmaston, Worcester, England. It was obtained by crossing Seckel with Gansel Bergamot, whence its name.
Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, variable in yield; branches slender, zigzag, sprinkled with numerous lenticels; branchlets thick, light reddish-brown mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, with small, roundish, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, pointed, appressed. Leaves 2¼ in. long, 1½ in. wide; apex taper-pointed; margin tipped with few reddish glands, coarsely serrate; petiole 1¼ in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free; flowers open early, 1¼ in. across; pedicels ½ in. long.
Fruit ripens in late October and November; small to medium, 2½ in. long, 2⅜ in. wide, irregular, oblate-pyriform; stem ¾ in. long, stout; cavity variable in width, shallow, irregular; calyx small, closed; lobes erect, acute; basin variable in width, deep; skin roughened with russet, uneven; color pale yellow, overspread with thin cinnamon-russet, sometimes faintly blushed on the exposed cheek; dots distinct, cinnamon-russet; flesh yellowish-white, coarse, melting, buttery, juicy, highly aromatic, with a rich perfume, sweet, but without the spicy flavor of the Seckel; quality very good.