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.
GARBER
1. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 48. 1891. 2. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:247. 1903. 3. Chico Nur. Cat. 12. 1904. 4. Cornell Sta. Bul. 332:481. 1913.
Garber’s Hybrid. 5. Black Cult. Peach and Pear 229, 242. 1886. 6. Harcourt Fla. Fruits 255. 1886. 7. Hood Cat. 25. 1905.
A few trivial differences separate Garber from Kieffer—the fruits of both are poor. The pears ripen a week or two earlier than those of Kieffer, are a little rounder, flatter at the ends, and some say are a little better in quality—certainly they are no worse to eat out of hand. The tree is hardy to heat and cold, and is much planted in the southern states, and in the Mississippi Valley, North and South. The variety might be sparingly planted in New York as an ornamental.
Garber is one of many seedlings of the Chinese Sand pear, raised by J. B. Garber, Columbia, Pennsylvania, sometime previous to 1880. It is supposed to be of hybrid origin. The variety was added to the American Pomological Society’s list of recommended fruits in 1891 where it has since remained.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, productive with age; branches smooth, zigzag, reddish-brown partly covered with grayish scarf-skin; branchlets thick, with long internodes, smooth, glabrous, sprinkled with small, round, very conspicuous, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, pointed and with curved tips, appressed. Leaves 3½ in. long, 2¼ in. wide, thick; apex taper-pointed; margin with very minute and reddish tips, finely serrate; petiole 2¼ in. long, thick. Flower-buds small, conical, sharply pointed, free.
Fruit ripe September to October; large, usually roundish-oblong and tapering toward both ends; stem 1 in. long, stout, obliquely set; cavity small, narrow, often deep and furrowed; calyx variable in size, partly open; lobes slender; basin broad, abrupt, deep, furrowed; color pale yellow, often with a brownish-red blush on the exposed cheek; dots small, numerous, russet; flesh white, granular, crisp but tender, juicy, neither sweet nor sour but with a peculiar, pleasant flavor; quality inferior.