Passe-Tardive. 1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 506. fig. 1869. 2. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 829. 1869.
Obtained by Major Espéren of Mechlin, Bel., and first published in 1843. Fruit above medium to large, turbinate, regular, bossed and much swelled in all its lower part and greatly contracted at the summit; flesh white, semi-fine and semi-melting, gritty around the core; juice seldom abundant, sugary, agreeable, though but slightly perfumed; second or third for dessert, first for the kitchen; Apr. to June.
Pastor. 1. Ragan Nom. Pear, B. P. I. Bul. 126:197. 1908.
Reported in the Experimental orchard at Agassiz, Br. C., in 1900 and at various Canadian Experiment Farms in 1902. Fruit medium, oblate-pyriform, yellow; flesh melting, sugary, juicy, perfumed flavor; good; late season.
Pastorale, 1. Duhamel Trait. Arb. Fr. 2:231, Pl. LV. 1768. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 628. 1884.
Mayer, director of the gardens of the Grand Duke of Wurtzburg, Bavaria, described this pear in his Pomona franconica in 1776 and 1801, and Duhamel du Monceau wrote of it in 1768. Earlier still Le Lectier spoke of its cultivation before 1628 under the name Musette d’Hiver rosate, Merlet called it Pastorale in 1675, and La Quintinye named it Pastourelle and Musette d’Autumne in 1688. Fruit above medium, pyriform, slightly obtuse, much puckered at the summit and generally larger on one side than on the other; skin greenish, nearly covered with gray-russet, sprinkled with large brown dots, vermilioned on the side of the sun; flesh whitish, semi-fine, more or less gritty around the core; juice abundant, rather sugary, slightly acid; Nov. to Jan.
Pater Noster. 1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 532. 1857. 2. Ann. Pom. Belge 6:33, fig. 1858.
Mentioned in the Van Mons catalog of fruits cultivated from 1798 to 1823. Fruit above medium, and often large, variable in form, oblong or long-turbinate, slightly obtuse, contorted and bossed, clear olive-yellow; flesh white, fine, melting or semi-melting, watery; juice abundant, saccharine, very vinous, acidulous, with an agreeable aroma; first; Nov.
Paul Ambre. 1. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 830. 1869. 2. Guide Prat. 101. 1876.
A Belgian variety resembling Nec Plus Meuris; origin unknown. Fruit globular or globular-oval, pale greenish-yellow, shaded with crimson on the side next the sun, dots and markings of russet; flesh whitish, buttery, melting, juicy, sweet; good to very good; Oct.