Pears
(Pyrus communis)
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Pears come in two distinct sorts: so-called "European" pears, the familiar sort, and "Asian" pears; the latter are more of a crunchy texture, much like apples. Individual tastes vary,
but here we will consider only European pears.
(The European pear's viability in North America was drastically threatened by fireblight; only the discovery that Asian pear are fire-blight resistant and could
be crossed with the European pear saved the classic fruit for us.)
Pear Cultivars
With pears as with apples, because they are grown commercially throughout our region, resistance to diseases and pests--and especially, for pears, fireblight--is critical to success.
While there are over five thousand pear varieties, only a few cultivars possess both substantial blight resistance and good eating quality. (Fireblight-resistant pear types are
sometimes referred to as "Oriental Hybrids".) You can examine this list of
fireblight-resistant pears to see if a type we don't mention is on it. Note that, as with apples, pear rootstock is important; the common M-series stocks tend to be
susceptible to fireblight, so the newer "Geneva" lines of rootstock (from Cornell University) are preferable, very much so where fireblight is a known risk. Keep in mind, too, that
cultivars once considered "fireblight-resistant", such as Seckel, are rapidly becoming less so, so don't rely on older information about blight resistance of types.
Another consideration is cross-pollination: you cannot select cultivars without paying close attention to which pollinates what; Seckel, for example, is notoriously difficult to match
up, while Magness pollinates easily but will not pollinate other types. Check the nurseries' charts.
As always with fruiting plants in this climate, hardiness also enters into the equation. Unlike annual vegetables, trees are something we put in for the decades, if not the
generations; a tree that can survive nine out of ten of our winters is useless, because we never know which winter will be the one it cannot survive, and when it comes, as it
surely will, there we are, back to Square One (and fruit trees typically take a few years to come into full bearing, too.) We need trees hardy to at least Zone 4, and to Zone 3 if we can
find them in the type, because even though we are a warm Zone 5 (or a cool Zone 6), those Zone figures are averages.
Another factor with fruit is keeping ability. Pears, even the best keepers, are not like apples, some of which can keep--if well-stored--for over half a year; pears are typically good
for, at very best, a few months, and more commonly only weeks. Pears divide (yes, yet another division) into "fall" and "winter" types (and occasionally a "summer" type); the
late-ripening sorts, say those that come in after middle to late September, are "winter pears" and will keep much longer in proper storage than other sorts. But where there is, as for us,
a non-trivial risk of freeze damage after mid-September, winter pears, despite the attractiveness of long keeping, are not a good choice.
With pears, another tricky difficulty is the way they ripen: from the inside out, unlike most fruit. The consequence of that is that a pear that reaches apparent ripeness while on the
tree is almost certainly already well over-ripe at the core, producing an edible but most unappetizing-looking brown core. The standard approach is to pick pears under-ripe, keep them
till needed, then quick-ripen them (which still takes a day or three) prior to use. Some cultivars are a little more forgiving than others about exactly when they are picked, which can be
handy.
We eventually settled, after much review of the literature, for these two types:
- Ubileen: a relatively new (in North America) type
from Bulgaria, Ubileen is a very early and prolific producer of large excellent-quality yellow (with a red blush) pears, "fine-textured, buttery, sweet, juicy, subacid, and aromatic",
which, however, have little keeping ability (circa 5 days at room temperature, somewhat longer in refrigeration--they are for fresh eating); it normally ripens around July
25th.
- Potomac: a pear of good quality (at least one
not-too-hyperbolic nursery flatly and emphatically--using underlines--calls it "the highest quality fireblight resistant variety available"), with decent storage ability; it normally
ripens in early to middle September (nominally September 9).
The idea is analogous to our apples scheme: the early, short-keeping for a first rush of fruit, then the later, more keepable sort for storage.
Some other blight-resistant pear types worth consideration include Blake's Pride and Harrow Delight (also has some scab resistance).
Growing
The cultivation of pears is very similar to that of apples (see which). There are also
some useful links in the list farther below.
More
Those really interested in pears should take a look at The Great Book of
Pears by Barbara Flores.
Relevant Links
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful:
(And don't forget that we have listings of nurseries on our suppliers page.)
Odds and Ends
Biology
Yes, yet another member of the delightful, fruit-rich Rosaceae family, pears come in about 30 species, of which only three are useful for edible fruit: Pyrus communis,
the European Pear, cultivated mainly in Europe and North America; P. xbretschneideri, the Chinese white pear (bai li); and P. pyrifolia, the Nashi Pear, more commonly known
as the Asian Pear or Apple Pear, the last two being grown mainly in eastern Asia. There are thousands of cultivars of these three species. Like apples, pears are "pomes", a term that
refers to their seed pattern.
History
Pears have been an important fruit for at least seven thousand years. It is recorded that around 5000 B.C. a Chinese diplomat named Feng Li gave up his career to become an orchardist,
growing pears (as well as other fruits). Homer, in the Odyssey, reckoned pears "a gift of the gods." The ancient Romans, always diligent agriculturists, left many careful records
of pear growing and grafting techniques. During the Renaissance, pears were famously standard parts of classic still-life paintings. By the seventeenth century in Europe, what we may
call "Modern" pear cukltivation was well under way. And, of course, the first day's Christmas gift was a partridge in a pear tree.
Envoi
Though not so well known as hard apple cider, there is a hard pear cider, commonly called "perry", which is commonest in the U.K. and some northern European nations. There is even a
distilled form of perry analogous to applejack.
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