This is a favorite pear, of medium size, but of great excellence,
ripening early in September. The tree is certainly as hardy as the
Bartlett, and may be grown wherever that variety succeeds. It has an
upright habit of growth, and is thrifty and healthy. It does not begin
to bear fruit while young, but when it has reached maturity it bears
large crops. The pears are hardly of medium size, of a rich deep-yellow
color, with a very handsome crimson cheek, the flesh is melting, juicy,
very sweet, with a very agreeable aromatic flavor, ranking in quality
almost if not quite “best.” It is grown in the counties of Brant,
Lambton, Lincoln, Middlesex, Ontario, Oxford, Waterloo, Wellington,
Wentworth, and York, and very probably in some other counties that have
not named it in their lists of pears.
This fruit is of American origin, having grown up in a hedge on the
grounds of Jonathan Tyson, of Jenkintown, near Philadelphia, Penn. In
1794 Mr. Tyson removed it from the hedge and set it out, at which time
it was about an inch in diameter. His son proposed to graft the tree
with a variety known by the name of Catharine, but the father suggested
that it might be a better kind, and in compliance with his wishes the
tree remained untouched until it bore fruit, which proved to be so fine
that in 1800 a number of trees were grafted with scions taken from this
tree. The original tree was still standing within the village of
Jenkintown in 1847, and then measured, at two feet from the ground,
fully six feet in circumference.
We commend this variety to the attention of our readers, believing they
will be pleased with its flavor, and find that anything that may be
lacking in the size of the fruit is fully made up in the quality and
flavor. We have noticed that the fruit does not drop easily from the
tree, but will often hang until it decays on the branches, hence it will
do to plant it in situations exposed to the sweep of strong winds. It is
not sufficiently large and showy to be planted for market, it is for the
grower’s own use, for those who value quality above size that it is
recommended.
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