More than thirty years ago the late A. J. Downing said, “among Autumn
pears, the Beurre Bosc proves, year after year, equally deserving of
praise. Its branches are regularly laden with large, fair, and beautiful
specimens, of a fine yellow, touched with a little cinnamon russet,
which ripens gradually, and always attains a delicious flavor. With many
sorts of pears it is unfortunately the case that only one fruit in ten
is really a fine specimen; with the Beurre Bosc it is just the reverse;
scarcely one in ten is blemished in appearance, or defective in flavor.
It is, in short, a standard fruit of the highest excellence and worthy
of universal cultivation.”
And that which was so well and truly said of it in 1846 remains true of
it to-day. The fruit is not borne in clusters as is the case with many
varieties, but singly, or at most in pairs, and is very evenly
distributed throughout the tree; hence, each fruit is fully developed in
form, size, and flavor. It is recommended for general cultivation in
twenty-two states and territories; and in Massachusetts and New York is
put down as being a fruit of great superiority and value. Nurserymen
have never taken it in hand to make a run on it, hence it has not been
as widely disseminated as many sorts of more recent introduction. When
young, the tree has a very ungainly habit of growth, and requires much
attention and no little skill in pruning to bring it into a saleable
shape; for this reason it costs the nurserymen more to bring into market
a thousand trees of this variety than two thousand of Bartlett or Beurre
d’Anjou, and as a consequence it is not extensively cultivated. In the
Report of the Fruit Growers’ Association for 1869 it is put down as
being unable to bear the cold Winters of Frontenac, Addington, Lennox,
Hastings, Prince Edward, Northumberland, Durham, Ontario, and York; but
in Peel, south part of Halton, and in Wentworth it is mentioned as being
a desirable variety to plant, also in Lincoln, Welland, Haldimand,
Elgin, Norfolk, Oxford, south of the Great Western Railway, Middlesex,
south of the same line, Kent and Essex. On the other hand we notice that
in the Report of the American Pomological Society for 1877, it is
recommended for general cultivation in Maine, New Hampshire, and
Vermont. With these facts for the guidance of Canadian planters before
them, it would be well to experiment cautiously with this variety where
hardy pear trees are necessary, but in the milder sections where pear
trees of most sorts thrive well, the Beurre Bosc will give great
satisfaction, both to the amateur and market orchardist, for the fruit
will command the highest price in our city markets, and those who have
once become acquainted with its rich, aromatic flavor will purchase
again.
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