The pears of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

Cordus is entitled to honor in the history of pomology as first to print descriptions of fruits for the purpose of identifying varieties. No doubt as soon as the earth ceased to furnish spontaneously the primitive luxury of ready-to-eat food in the shape of fruit, making culture necessary, varieties were acquired and became commodities as they are today. Varieties were certain to originate under cultivation, and their value was certain to be recognized by our first ancestors, to whom the convenience, necessity, and expediency of having a diversity of kinds of any fruit as well as of a means of keeping them true to kind, must have been apparent at the beginning of fruit culture. That such was the case, the most ancient sacred and profane writings assure us. Varieties of the fig, olive, grape, and other fruits are mentioned by all early writers on plants. That varieties of fruits would not come true to seed was early known, and propagation by cuttings, layers, and grafting was invented to preserve choice sorts. Many of the early writers name varieties, tell from whence they came, and some set forth a remarkable character or two, but none give detailed descriptions. Cordus was first to engage in this sort of enterprise.

This chapter from Cordus is important, too, because it makes plain that the pears grown in Germany four hundred years ago possessed all the characters to be found in modern pears. Culture has increased size, modified shapes, augmented flavors, brightened colors, and softened textures, but no characters that can be considered new or distinct, unit characters of the plant-breeder, have been introduced in the four centuries that have gone by. The characters possessed by these German pears are the same, so far as can be made out, as those of the varieties grown by the Greeks and Latins nearly 2000 years earlier. From this, the inference must be drawn that the characters of the pear have not originated under cultivation but exist in wild types. New and distinct characters can come only by hybridization with another species. Pears within a species are changed only by a recombination of the characters possessed by the species.

The descriptions of varieties from Cordus[4] that follow are commended to pomologists as models of brevity and accuracy. These word-pictures reproduce the pears as vividly as an artist could paint them. One sees at once that Cordus was no compiler. Such descriptions as Cordus writes can be made only in the orchard with the pear in hand.

“The domesticated pear-tree is like the wild tree in trunk, bark, timber, leaves and blossoms, but has straighter and more shapely boughs and leaves a little larger. Of the fruits themselves, which we call pears, there are innumerable kinds, of which we will describe some that are found in Germany, adding also their German names, which vary, however, in the different provinces.

“Probstbirn, that is, Provost pear, so-called from their broad base, near the stalk end in a blunt point, have a length of three inches, breadth a little less. Their color is pale green, speckled with green spots or dots; they are astringent to the taste, and by the abundance of their juice extinguish thirst. They ripen at the beginning of autumn, and quickly decay because of the abundance of watery and rather cold juice. They are found in abundance at Eisleben near the Harz forest in Saxony.

“Speckbirn, that is, Lard pear, swell in the middle with a thick belly, from which they suddenly taper off into a point; they have a length of more than three inches, a width somewhat less than three inches; they are of pale color, and like the Provost, speckled with green dots, rather mild and sweet to the taste, dissolving in the mouth like lard, whence they have received their name, and with the abundance of their juice they quench thirst; when they are peeled they give a sweet odor. They ripen at the beginning of autumn and very easily decay.

“Kaulbirn, that is, Ball pear, have almost the roundness of a globe, except that near the stalk they rise to a blunt and inconspicuous circle. Their length is scarcely two inches; they rarely exceed this, but in width slightly exceed their length. In color they are pale green, in taste and smell they rival the Lard with which also they come to ripeness; these too easily decay. They are found at Eisleben.

“Hanffbirn, that is, Hemp pear, are like the Ball but a little larger; they have a green color, marked with spots or dots; in taste they correspond to the Ball, but do not dissolve so readily in the mouth; they ripen at the same time, and are easily affected by decay. These too are found at Eisleben.

“Glockenbirn, that is, Bell pear, from a broad base narrow down to a sort of narrow neck and then end in a blunt head; they have quite the shape of a bell, whence they have received their name. They are wholly of a yellow color spotted with dots, in length a little less than three inches, but in width they do not reach two inches. They have no unpleasant odor, especially when peeled; in taste they correspond to the Hemp, and reach maturity at the same time, and easily decay. They grow in abundance at Eisleben.