Guyot was raised in the nurseries of the Baltet Brothers, Troyes, France, about 1870. Within the next decade it was quite widely distributed in France and England where it has since been esteemed as a pear of the Bartlett type. It was first brought to America about 1885.
Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, hardy, productive, a regular bearer; branches brownish, overlaid with thick scarf-skin, marked by small, round, indistinct lenticels; branchlets slender, very long, curved, with long internodes, reddish-brown mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, sprinkled with raised, conspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, very short, pointed, appressed. Leaves 2⅞ in. long, 1¾ in. wide; apex taper-pointed; margin glandular, variable in serration; petiole 2 in. long, thick, reddish-green. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, singly on very short spurs; flowers open late, showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, from 5 to 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels ⅞ in. long, pubescent.
Fruit ripens in early September; large, 3¼ in. long, 2⅝ in. wide, oblong-obtuse-pyriform, irregular, with unequal sides; stem 1¼ in. long, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, slightly russeted, drawn up on one side of the stem in a prominent lip; calyx large, open; lobes separated at the base, short, broad, acute; basin shallow, narrow, obtuse, furrowed; skin very thin, tender, roughish; color yellow, more or less mottled and with traces of russet, with a red blush on the exposed cheek; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh yellowish-white, granular, tender, moderately juicy, sweet mingled with sprightliness, aromatic; quality good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, long, plump, acute.
HOWELL
1. Mag. Hort. 15:69, fig. 12. 1849. 2. Hovey Fr. Am. 2:75, Pl. 1851. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 210. 1856. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 510, fig. 1857. 5. Hoffy N. Am. Pom. 1: Pl. 1860. 6. Pom. France 3: No. 105, Pl. 105. 1865.
Howell’s Seedling. 7. Mag. Hort. 14:519. 1848.
Howell is everywhere condemned by faint praise. The variety is a little too good to be discarded and not quite good enough to be generally recommended. Its characters in tree and fruit are faulty by reason of their mediocrity. After having said that the trees are not above the average in vigor, healthfulness, hardiness, and fruitfulness, it remains only to be said that their spreading tops make them desirable orchard inhabitants and handsome dooryard ornamentals. The fruits cannot be praised for attractive appearance or good quality, but they are preëminently meritorious in that they are probably more often uniform in appearance, quality, and freedom from the ravages of the scab fungus than those of almost any other pear. These qualities make Howell a most estimable variety for the home orchard where intensive care cannot be given. The variety further commends itself to amateur growers, because the trees bear early, annually, and abundantly. Howell seems to be better suited to the middle western states than to the eastern states.