The pears of New York

by U. P. Hedrick

Some pears have an unbroken russet surface as Beurré Bose and Sheldon. Or, the surface may be rough because of minute russet dots or netted veins. With many sorts, the cavity alone is russeted. Sometimes the russet of the cavity is spread out in radiating lines.

Nearly all pears have few or many dots on the skin, notes on which may enhance the value of a description. These may be obscure or conspicuous, large or small, raised or sunken. If visible under the epidermis, they are said to be submerged. When star-like, they are called stellate. If surrounded by a halo of lighter color, they are said to be areolar. In some varieties, the dots are elongated. Very often the dots are russeted. The roughened outer skin, called scarf-skin, gives a distinguishing appearance to a few pears.

Cutting pears to show the internal structure.—When varieties cannot be distinguished from external marks, there are several very reliable characters that can be made use of in the internal anatomy of the fruits. To study these it is necessary to make a longitudinal and a transverse section of the pear. To make an accurate examination of the internal structure, the sectioning must be done with a keen, thin knife, with a steady hand, and a good eye.

In making the longitudinal section the knife should pass through the center of the calyx, showing the remnants of styles and stamens; through the middle of the core cell, showing the outline of the core cavity; and through the middle of the stem. A true record cannot be obtained, unless the organs named are divided fairly accurately in halves. In making the transverse section, the knife should pass through the widest diameter of the fruit, cutting the core in half. If the core is not in the center of the fruit, trial cuts to locate it must be made that it may be halved exactly.

The stamens, calyx-tube, and styles.—After halving the fruit longitudinally, the first organs to be studied are the stamens, the position of which furnishes reliable taxonomic data in apples and is occasionally worth noting in pears. Passing from the stamens to the calyx-tube, it will be found that the shape of this structure is of some use in separating varieties, although it is exceedingly variable in accordance with the size of the pear, and is materially altered by abnormalities in the fruit. The base of the styles in some varieties develop into fleshy tissue which alters the shape of the calyx-tube. The calyx-tube may be cone-shaped, funnel-shaped, or urn-shaped. When funnel-shaped, the broad upper part is called the limb; the narrow lower part, the cylinder. In some varieties the remnants of the styles are often more or less fleshy and form a point, called the pistil point, which projects into the calyx-tube.

The core.—The position of the core in the fruit is often a valuable means of distinguishing varieties. If close to the stem, the core is said to be sessile; if at the center of the pome, it is median; when distant from the stem, distant.

The cell containing seed, called a carpel, is morphologically a modified leaf, which, by folding together and by union of its edges forms a closed receptacle. In some varieties, the carpels are open; in others closed. If the tip of the carpel is indented, it is said to be emarginate; if long and pointed, mucronate. In shape, carpels may be round, cordate, obcordate, elliptical, oblong, elongated, ovate, or obovate. In the cores of most pomes there is a central cavity called the core cavity, sometimes spoken of as the axial sac which may be either narrow, wide, or lacking. This is a character of much importance and reliability in pears. When the carpels extend quite to the axis of the fruit, they are said to be axile and there is no core cavity; when distant from the axis, they are abaxile and a core cavity is formed. Sometimes the carpel is lined on the inner surface with a white substance, when it is said to be tufted. In some pears, there are many fine hairs in the core-cavity in which case the cavity is said to be tufted.

The limits of the core are marked by a line in most pome-fruits—usually very distinct in apples and quinces—which in most varieties of pears is indistinct. The area enclosed by this line may be large or small and may be variously shaped. When the core-line joins the calyx-tube along the sides, it is said to be clasping; when the two ends of the line meet at the base of the calyx-tube, the expression core-lines meeting is used. The core-line in pears is nearly always, if not always, clasping and very often it is a more or less thickened area of grit-cells.

Seeds.—Seeds are characteristic in all varieties of pears and might well be used more generally than is the case in classification. The number is exceedingly variable in different varieties. The usual number is two in each cell, but often there are three or more and occasionally they are missing. Seeds vary greatly in different varieties in size, shape, and color, and differences in these characters are as constant as are those of any other organ of the fruit. Number, size, shape, and color of seeds should be noted with care in every technical description of a pear. The point of the seed, also, is worth noting; it may be acute, acuminate, or obtuse. Like the carpels, the seeds are often tufted. There are several so-called seedless pears, but all of these occasionally contain some seeds. Very often seedlessness is brought about by lack of proper pollination. An occasional fruit without seeds is found in nearly all varieties, but these fruits are usually more or less abnormal in size or shape.