LINCOLN
1. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 88. 1845. 2. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 196, Pls. 1894. 3. Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 141. 1894. 4. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 42. 1889. 5. Rural N. Y. 48:754, figs. 275 and 276. 1889. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1899. 7. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:253. 1903.
Nearly a hundred years old without having received favorable mention from pear growers, Lincoln has been brought from the limbo of lost fruits in recent years to take high rank in the list of pears for the Mississippi Valley. The variety is spoken of in such superlative terms for that region that judging from its behavior in New York, it would seem that western pear-growers give it attributes which Nature denies it. At best, in the East, the fruits are but mediocre in appearance and quality, falling below those of a dozen other varieties of the same season whether judged by the eye or the palate. In Illinois and Missouri, however, the fruits are spoken of as the handsomest and best. These are not regions in which many good pears grow, since the cold of winter, heat of summer, and pear-blight take toll from all but pears of the strongest constitution. Lincoln seems to possess a constitution to withstand these ills. At its best, the fruits of Lincoln seem comparable to those of Bartlett, which the western admirers of the variety say it resembles. In New York, comparisons of the fruits are all in favor of Bartlett, as are the trees in all characters excepting hardiness to heat and cold, and resistance to blight. The variety is valuable only in the Middle West.
This pear had its origin in a seedling grown in the spring of 1835 by Mrs. Maria Fleming, Corwin, Illinois, The original tree proved to be a vigorous grower as well as a heavy cropper, and was ultimately given the name of Lincoln. Augustine and Company of Normal, Illinois, propagated and distributed the variety about 1895. Young trees of the variety appear to be vigorous growers, free from blight and of high quality. The American Pomological Society added Lincoln to its list of fruits in 1899.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, very productive; trunk stocky, smooth; branches zigzag, greenish-brown, partly overspread with thin gray scarf-skin, marked on the younger wood with very numerous large, round lenticels; branchlets slender, very long, willowy, brownish-green overlaid with thin gray, dull, the new growth reddish-green, with numerous large, roundish, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds very small, short, pointed, appressed. Leaves 3½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, stiff; apex variable; margin glandless, finely serrate; petiole 2⅝ in. long, glabrous, tinged with red; stipules very long and slender, pinkish. Flower-buds small, short, conical, free, singly on short spurs; flowers 1⅜ in. across, well distributed, average 5 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅛ in. long, slender, pubescent.
Fruit matures in late August and September; medium in size, about 2¼ in. in length and width, roundish, with an obtuse neck, tapering very slightly; stem 1⅛ in. long, slender; cavity a slight, narrow depression, occasionally lipped; calyx large, open; lobes separated at the base, long, acuminate; basin shallow, obtuse, smooth, symmetrical; skin thick, tender, roughish; color yellow, sprinkled with few russet lines and nettings; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh tinged with yellow, firm, coarse and granular, tender, very juicy, sweet, aromatic, pleasing but not richly flavored; quality good. Core unusually large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, very wide, long, plump, acuminate.
