BELLE LUCRATIVE
1. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 364. 1831. 2. Kenrick Am. Orch. 135. 1841. 3. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:41, Pl. 1851. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 53. 1852. 5. Field Pear Cult. 194, fig. 68. 1858.
Fondante d’Automne. 6. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 387, fig. 168. 1845. 7. Hogg Fruit Man. 578. 1884.
Seigneur. 8. Ann. Pom. Belge 7:5, Pl. 1859. 9. Pom. France 1: No. 28, Pl. 28. 1863. 10. Mas Le Verger 3: Pt. 1, 21, fig. 9. 1866-73.
Bergamote Lucrative. 11. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:247, figs. 1867.
Seigneur d’Espéren. 12. Guide Prat. 59, 303. 1876.
Esperen’s Herrenbirne. 13. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 212. 1889. 14. Gaucher Pom. Prak. Obst. No. 37, Pl. 85. 1894.
Lucrative. 15. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1889.
This good old pear has been a standard autumn sort for nearly a century. The internal characters of both flesh and flavor are nearly perfect, but externally much more might be desired as to shape and size. In flesh and flavor, the fruits are of the Bergamot type—fine-grained, buttery, juicy, and sugary, with a musky taste and perfume. The fruits are not as large as is desirable, and are variable in shape and color, external defects which a rather handsome color offsets in part. The trees are more satisfactory than the fruits. They bear enormously and almost annually on either standard or dwarfing stocks; they are very vigorous, with a somewhat distinct upright-spreading habit of growth; are hardier than the average variety of this fruit; and are rather more resistant to blight than the average variety. The fruits are too small for a good commercial product, but their delectable flavor and luscious flesh make them as desirable as any other pear for home use; besides which the trees grow so well, and are so easily managed that the variety becomes one of the very best for the home planter.