Martha Ann. 1. Mag. Hort. 16:547. 1850.
A seedling raised by Francis Dana, Roxbury, Mass. Fruit medium or below, obovate-obtuse-pyriform, yellowish-green, with patches and dots of russet; flesh coarse, juicy, astringent; poor; Oct.
Martin. 1. Kans. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 171. 1886.
Originated in Cowley, Kans., and reported as a new fruit and a good substitute for the Vicar of Winkfield. Fruit medium to large, oblate-pyriform, irregular, greenish changing to yellowish-white, smooth; flesh firm, fine grained, buttery, juicy; fair; Jan.
Martin-Sec. 1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:408, fig. 1869. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 615. 1884.
Trockener Martin. 3. Löschnig Mostbirnen 216, fig. 1913.
Hogg tells us that this and the Martin Sire are among the earliest varieties known to have been grown in England, for they are mentioned among the fruits delivered into the Treasury by the fruiterer of Edward I in 1292. In 1530 Charles Estienne of Paris wrote of it as being cultivated in France and affirmed the Pears of Saint Martin were so named because their time of ripening coincided with the Festival of that Saint. Again, in 1675 Merlet in his Abrégé des bons fruits spoke of the Martin-Sec of Provins or of Champagne. Fruit medium or above, long-pyriform-obtuse, regular in form, yellowish and russeted, dotted with gray points and extensively washed with carmine on the face exposed to the sun; flesh whitish, semi-fine, very breaking, rather dry, but sweet and perfumed, very gritty when grafted on quince; third; mid-Nov. to Feb.
Martin-Sire. 1. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:145, Pl. XIX, fig. 5. 1768. 2. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:410, fig. 1869. 3. Hogg Fruit Man. 615. 1884.
This pear, sometimes known as Lord Martin Pear, was grown in England in the thirteenth century. By Claude Saint-Étienne in 1628 it was mentioned under two of its most ancient names, Martin-Sire and Ronville. In the eighteenth century Mayer in the Pomona franconica said the name Martin-Sire which was the most generally recognized of its many names originated from a former Lord of Ronville whose name was Martin. Fruit medium, pyriform, obtuse and very regular; skin fine, smooth and shining, bright green changing to a fine deep yellow, dotted and marked with fawn, carmined on the side next the sun; flesh whitish, semi-fine, breaking, fairly juicy, sweet, perfumed and often with an after-taste of musk; more fit for stewing than dessert; Dec. to Feb.