LINCOLN CORELESS
1. Parry Cat. 9, fig. 1891. 2. Ann. Hort. 185. 1892. 3. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 137. 1894. 4. Ibid. 52, 178. 1896. 5. Rural N. Y. 64:256. 1905.
The product of Lincoln Coreless is worthless for dessert, and but a coarse makeshift for culinary purposes. The variety receives attention only because the pear is a monstrosity and a curiosity. The fruits are enormous in size, outweighing all other pears unless it be those of the Pound. They are unique in having a very small core and few or sometimes no seeds. They are further characterized by very late maturity, ripening later than those of any other pear on the grounds of this Station and keeping until April. While usually rather dull greenish-yellow in color, the cheek is often enlivened by a bright blush which makes the fruits rather attractive despite their grossness. The catalogs describe the trees as “blight proof,” but they blight on the grounds of this Station. The variety is worth growing only as an interesting curiosity.
According to William Parry, Parry, New Jersey, Lincoln Coreless originated in Lincoln County, Tennessee, near the Alabama line, about 1830. The original tree was rated as productive and free from blight, and young trees propagated from it have been unusually healthy and vigorous. The variety was introduced about 1890 by William Parry.
Tree small, vigorous, upright, very dense, pyramidal, hardy, an uncertain bearer; trunk shaggy; branches smooth, zigzag, reddish-brown mingled with ash-gray, marked with small lenticels; branchlets short to medium, dull brown, smooth, glabrous, with conspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds large, obtuse, plump, appressed. Leaves 3 in. long, 1⅝ in. wide, elongated-oval, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, reddish; stipules very long. Flower-buds short, obtuse, plump, free; flowers 1¾ in. across, very large and showy, average 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1⅝ in. long, thick, pubescent, pale green.
Fruit ripe in February; very large, 4¾ in. long, 3 in. wide, uniform in size, obovate-acute-pyriform, somewhat ribbed, with unequal sides; stem 1⅜ in. long, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, russeted, furrowed, often lipped; calyx open, large; lobes separated at the base, narrow, acute; basin very shallow, narrow, obtuse, furrowed; skin very thick, tough, coarse and granular, smooth, dull; color greenish-yellow, with a handsome blush on the cheek exposed to the sun; dots many, brownish-russet, very conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, very firm, granular at the core, crisp, tough, medium juicy, rather bitter and astringent; quality poor. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube long, wide, conical; seeds few, narrow, often abortive, acute.
LOUISE BONNE DE JERSEY
1. Kenrick Am. Orch. 148. 1841. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 53. 1852. 3. Field Pear Cult. 218, fig. 81. 1858.
Louise Bonne of Jersey. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 397, fig. 174. 1845. 5. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:39, Pl. 1851. 6. Jour. Hort. N. S. 38:161, fig. 26. 1880. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 606. 1884.
Gute Louise von Avranches. 8. Dochnahl Führ. Obstkunde 2:138. 1856. 9. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 229. 1889.
Bonne Louise d’Avranches. 10. Ann. Pom. Belge 6:29, Pl. 1858. 11. Pom. France 1: No. 21, Pl. 21. 1863. 12. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 67, fig. 32. 1866-73. 13. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:482, fig. 1867. 14. Guide Prat. 286. 1876.
Louise. 15. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 23. 1897. 16. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 170, fig. 1914.
Now known in America as Louise, a name given it by the American Pomological Society, this variety is described under the name given it in England to distinguish it from at least eight other varieties having Louise as the whole or a part of the name. The pear is an old one, having many excellent qualities of fruit and tree, which, however, are not sufficiently above the average to give it high place in the list of pears for the market. The pears are medium to large, handsome, of excellent quality, and keep and ship well. These qualities have given it some preëminence as a pear for the export trade. The trees are precariously hardy and somewhat subject to blight, but very vigorous, productive, and long-lived. In Europe, the testimony of prominent pomologists agrees that the fruits are better and the trees more productive when worked on the quince, and in America the variety is considered one of the best for dwarfing. This pear is a standard one for home collections, and finds favor in many commercial orchards in New York.
The parent tree of this pear was raised from seed about 1780 by M. de Longueval, Avranches, Normandy. Some authorities say that the variety was first named Bonne de Longueval; others, that M. de Longueval immediately dedicated the pear to his wife and called it Bonne Louise de Longueval. Later still, the Pomological Congress adopted the name of Bonne Louise d’Avranches, by which it became more generally known, though in England, it rather unfortunately became widely disseminated as Louise Bonne de Jersey, having, presumably, found its way there through the Channel Islands. The variety was brought to the United States early in the nineteenth century, and in 1852 was entered in the recommended list of fruits of the American Pomological Society. In 1897, this Society shortened the name to Louise.
Tree large, vigorous, upright, very tall, dense-topped, hardy, productive, long-lived; trunk stocky; branches slightly zigzag, reddish-brown mingled with very dark grayish scarf-skin, with numerous raised lenticels; branchlets slender, long, dark reddish-brown, nearly smooth, glabrous, with few small, slightly raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds pointed, semi-free. Leaves 3¼ in. long, 1¾ in. wide, much curled under at the margins, oval, leathery; apex slightly taper-pointed; margin glandless, finely serrate; petiole 1½ in. long, slender. Flower-buds small, conical or pointed, free; flowers with a disagreeable odor, 1½ in. across, white or tinged with pink along the edge of the petals, averaging 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1½ in. long, slender, pubescent, light green.
Fruit matures in October; medium to large, 2⅞ in. long, 2¼ in. wide, uniform in size and shape, oblong-pyriform, somewhat irregular, with unequal sides; stem 1 in. long, slender, usually curved; cavity obtuse, very shallow and very narrow, furrowed and wrinkled, often lipped, the flesh folded up around the stem; calyx open, large; lobes broad, acute; basin obtuse, furrowed and uneven; skin granular, smooth; color pale yellow, marked on the exposed cheek with a dull red blush and with streaks of russet; dots numerous, small, grayish or russet, conspicuous; fruit yellowish-white, somewhat granular, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet and vinous, aromatic, rich; quality very good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, acute.