DEARBORN
1. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1883. 2. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 155. 1914.
Dearborn’s Seedling. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 154. 1832. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 336, fig. 135. 1845. 5. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 6. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:63, Pl. 1851. 7. Elliott Fr. Book 336. 1859. 8. Mas Le Verger 2:17, fig. 7. 1866-73. 9. Leroy Dict. Pom. 2:7, fig. 1869.
Once a favorite, Dearborn is now nearly lost to cultivation, and few or no nurserymen grow the trees. It is too good a variety to be lost, however, because of splendid fruit- and tree-characters. The fruits ripen early and are of good quality, though hardly as richly flavored as those of Elizabeth which ripen at the same time. Unfortunately the pears run small, but they are attractive in shape and color. In season, the crop succeeds that of Bloodgood and precedes that of Bartlett. The trees are almost flawless, and therefore are well adapted to home orchards where fruits cannot receive the care of skilled hands. Besides being almost free from blight, the trees are hardy, vigorous, and very productive. The variety has many valuable qualities for a summer pear in home orchards.
This pear was found growing in a border of shrubs in 1818 at Brinley Place, Roxbury, Massachusetts, the home of General H. A. S. Dearborn,[27] first president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. In 1831, General Dearborn first exhibited fruit of the variety at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society where it was named Dearborn’s Seedling in honor of the originator. This variety should not be confused with a pear raised by Van Mons of Belgium and named by him Dearborn. The Dearborn of Van Mons is larger and ripens later than the American Dearborn, and was long since taken from lists of pears recommended for cultivation in America. Dearborn was included in the American Pomological Society’s first fruit-catalog in 1848, where it was called Dearborn’s Seedling. In 1883, the Society shortened the name to Dearborn. Since 1891, the name has failed to appear in the catalogs of this Society.
Tree large, vigorous, spreading, tall, very productive; trunk stocky; branches thick, zigzag, reddish-brown partly covered with a heavy, gray scarf-skin, marked by many reddish-brown lenticels; branchlets slender, very long, with long internodes, older wood brown, new growth greenish, nearly covered with reddish-brown, mottled with ash-gray scarf-skin, smooth, glabrous becoming pubescent near the tips of the new growth, with numerous small, brownish, round, raised, conspicuous lenticels.
Leaf-buds very small, short, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 3 in. long, 1½ in. wide, thin; apex obtusely-pointed; margin with very fine dark tips, finely and shallowly serrate; petiole tinged red, 1¾ in. long, glabrous. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free, arranged singly on short spurs; flowers showy, 1¼ in. across, in dense clusters, 9 or 10 buds in a cluster; pedicels ¾ in. long, pubescent.
Fruit ripe in late August; small, 2 in. long, 2¼ in. wide, uniform, roundish-pyriform, with a slight neck, symmetrical, uniform; stem 1 in. long, slender; cavity obtuse, shallow, narrow, thinly russeted, often slightly lipped; calyx open, large; lobes separated at the base, narrow, acuminate; basin very shallow, obtuse, gently furrowed and wrinkled, symmetrical; skin thick, very tough, smooth, dull; color pale yellow, with russet specks; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh white, slightly granular at the center, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet but spicy, aromatic; quality good. Core large for the size of the fruit, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plump, acute.