1. Am. Jour. Hort. 3:144, figs. 1868. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 818. 1869. 3. Horticulturist 24:367, fig. 1869. 4. Ibid. 26:361. 1871. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 20. 1871. 6. Horticulturist 27:204. 1872. 7. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:256. 1903.
As a distinct type, and because the pears ripen at a season when there are few other varieties of this fruit, Mount Vernon has a prominent place in the list of worthy American pears. The top-shaped form and reddish-russet color give the pear a unique appearance, and with the greenish-yellow, granular, spicy, piquant flesh constitute very distinct characters in its quality. Unfortunately, the russet color is not well brought out in the accompanying color-plate. Lack of uniformity in shape and size are the chief defects in the appearance of the pears. The variety is valuable because it ripens its crop in early winter from which time, under good conditions, it may be kept until mid-winter, a season in which there are few good pears. The trees are unusually satisfactory in most of the characters of importance in a good pear-tree. The tree is vigorous but the head is small, with numerous, short, stocky branches, many of which droop. The aspect given the top by these peculiarities is quite distinct. The variety is worthy when a winter pear is wanted whether for home or market.
This pear, which is very distinct from any other variety, originated from a chance seedling in the garden of Samuel Walker, Roxbury, Massachusetts, at the end of the first half of the nineteenth century.
Tree large, vigorous, spreading, with many drooping branches, dense-topped, hardy, productive, long-lived; trunk stocky; branches thick, shaggy, reddish-brown, overcast with gray scarf-skin, marked by few large lenticels; branchlets thick, with short internodes, grayish-brown, smooth, glabrous, with a few large, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds variable in shape, usually free. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, oval, medium to thick, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin crenate, tipped with rudimentary glands; petiole 1¼ in. long. Flower-buds large, long, conical or pointed, free; flowers 1⅜ in. across, in dense clusters, 7 to 9 buds in a cluster; pedicels ¾ in. long, slender, lightly pubescent, pale green, with a faint tinge of red.
Fruit ripe in late October and November; medium in size, 2½ in. long, 2⅛ in. wide, uniform in size, roundish-obtuse-pyriform, irregular, with unequal sides, variable in shape; stem 1 in. long, thick, usually curved; cavity obtuse, very shallow and narrow, russeted, furrowed, often very heavily lipped, so that the stem appears to be inserted under a fleshy enlargement; calyx open; lobes short, narrow, acute to acuminate; basin narrow, obtuse, smooth, usually symmetrical; skin granular, roughened by russet, dull; color light russet overspreading a greenish-yellow ground, with a brownish-red blush on the exposed cheek, dotted and netted with russet; dots numerous, small, russet, obscure; flesh white, with a faint tinge of yellow, often with a green tinge under the skin, granular, tender and melting, juicy, sweet, aromatic, with a vinous tendency; quality good to very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds variable in size, wide, long, plump, acute, many abortive.
OLIVIER DE SERRES
1. Mas Le Verger 1:67, fig. 40. 1866-73. 2. Downing Fr. Trees. Am. 822. 1869. 3. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:477, fig. 1869. 4. Tilton Jour. Hort. 9:377, fig. 1871. 5. Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 316. 1881. 6. Jour. Hort. 3rd Ser. 4:15, fig. 4. 1882. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 624. 1884. 8. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 58, Pl. 51. 1894. 9. Deut. Obstsorten 5: Pt. 15, Pl. 1909.
This variety is rated in Europe as a delicious late-winter pear, and the pomological writers of the last century give it all of the virtues on this side of the Atlantic ascribed to it by Europeans. A closer study of the variety as grown in America shows that it does not possess the merits in this country given it by the French and English. The quality of the pear as grown in New York is below that of several other sorts of its season. The flesh is coarse and gritty and the flavor is mediocre. The tree-characters are good, but are not sufficiently good to offset the faults of the fruits.
Olivier de Serres was raised from seed of Fortunée about the middle of the nineteenth century by M. Boisbunel, Rouen, France. It fruited a few years later, but did not receive attention until about 1862. At that time it was brought to the notice of the French Society of Horticulture, and was pronounced a fruit of merit. At the suggestion of M. Boisbunel, it was named after the illustrious Frenchman, Olivier de Serres, who in France is called “The Father of Agriculture.” It was brought to America about 1865.