The Orchard at
Sage Hen Farm:
Pears

Below the pear varieties are listed in order of ripening. In alphabetic order they are: Bosc, Clapp's Favorite, Dana Hovey, Giffard, Magness, Seckel, Tyson, Vermont Beauty, and Winter Cole.
At Sage Hen Farm in Lodi, NY, our orchard is mostly apple trees, but we have other fruit trees as well. Pears are on this page. We also grow Peaches, Plums and Cherries. At the bottom of the page are tips for picking pears off a tree.
Variety Origin Date	Fruit Size	Skin & Flesh	Harvest & Maturity	Merits & Faults
Giffard (Beurre Giffard [some sources spell it Gifford]) (chance seedling) France found 1825; introduced to North America by 1850. GRIN	small, but variable in size classic pear shape	yellow-green with red cheek white with tinges of yellow, crisp, granular, tender, very juicy	harvest when mature in early August.	Merits: hardy (to zone 4); one of the few pears that can be eaten almost immediately after it is picked; moderately resistant to fire blight; few grit cells & only at center. Faults: tree slow to mature; fruit does not keep long. Ratings: Bull1891: 6-7/**; Bull1909: vg; Downing: "an early Pear of value," vg; Elliot: v; Hedrick: "one of the most refreshing summer fruits," vg.
Clapp's Favorite (Clapp Favorite) (chance seedling – Bartlett x Flemish Beauty?) Dorchester, MA before 1860 GRIN	large somewhat more roundish than classic pear shape	yellow with a red cheek white, fine-grained, buttery, and juicy.	harvest mid August so so they will be ready to eat by the third week of August	Merits: hardy (to zone 4); tree grows well in heavy soils; tree is spreading and drooping, making picking easier and fruit more uniform in size; very productive. Ratings: Faults: fruit center softens soon after ripening; does not keeps long; very susceptible to fire blight; some grit cells present. Bull1891: 6-7/**; Bull1909: g; Downing: "extremely fine and valuable," vg; Elliott: vg; Hedrick: vg
Tyson (thought to be Seckel open seedling) Jenkintown, PA before 1800 GRIN	small to medium classic pear shape, but irregular	deep yellow, with crimson cheek, slightly russeted creamy yellow, fine-grained; very sugary, very juicy	harvest when mature starting in mid August	Merits: hardy (to zone 4); very productive; fruit keeps well for earlier ripening variety; resistant to fire-blight; few or no grit cells. Faults: slow to mature; tall, upright grower, so must be trained; fruits can be poorly colored. Ratings: Bull1891: 7-8/**; Bull1909: vg-b; Downing: vg-b; Elliott: best; Hedrick: "best pear of its season...were the fruits larger, would rival Bartlett for market," vg
Magness (Seckel x Comice) Maryland released 1968 GRIN	medium classic pear shape	greenish yellow with blushes of red soft, fine-grained, rich, complex flavor, juicy	harvest in early September so mellowed and ready to eat third week in September	Merits: tree spreading, resistant to fire blight; excellent keeper; almost free of grit cells. Faults: low yield, pollen sterile
Seckel (Sugar Pear, Shakespear) Philadelphia, PA before 1760 GRIN	small roundish	brownish yellow-green overlaid with dull red, red cheeked, and some russetting creamy white, intensely sweet (honeyed), spicy	harvest in mid to last September so mellowed and ready to eat starting first week of October	Merits: hardy (to zone 4); very productive, regular cropping; self fertile; moderately resistant to fire blight; intensely sweet & spicy; no grit cells Faults: thinning needed to help increase fruit size; fruit does not keep well. Ratings: Bull1891: 10/**; Bull1909: vg-b; Bridgeman: "excellent native...most extraordinary rich flavour"; Downing: "we to not hesitate to pronounce this American Pear the richest and most exquisitely flavored variety we know," Elliott: best; Hedrick: "has no rival"; vg-b
Vermont Beauty (Forelle open seedling?) Vt & NY around 1880 GRIN	medium rounder than classic pear shape	lemon yellow with a bright red blush & pinkish-red dots yellow-tinged, tender, melting, fine-grained; juicy	harvest in late September so mellowed and ready to eat starting second week of October	Merits: very hardy (to zone 3); naturally spreading tree; very few grit cells. Faults: susceptible to scab and fireblight. Ratings: Bull1909: vg; Hedrick: "best for satisfying the eye for bright color," vg Note: UP Hedrick, in Pears of New York, thought it not improbable that Vermont Beauty was identical to Forelle (Trout) pear, but it has since been determined that they are not the same.
Bosc (Beurre Bosc) Belgium circa 1800; introduced to North America in 1832 GRIN	large classic pear shape	dark yellow with streaks of russet white, tender, very buttery, and juicy	harvest in early to mid October so mellowed and ready to eat starting third week of October	Merits: hardy (to zone 4); very productive; excellent keeper Faults: susceptible to fire blight. Ratings: Bull1891: 10/**; Bull1909: vg-b; Bridgeman: "highly flavoured and delicious"; Downing: we give our unqualified praise, of the highest flavor; Elliott: best; Hedrick: "merit unqualified praise"vg-b
Dana Hovey (Dana's Hovey, Winter Seckel) (Seckel open seedling) Roxbury, MA before 1855 GRIN	small rounder than classic pear shape	golden-yellow, russeted yellowish, rich, sugary, tender	harvest in mid or late October so mellowed and ready to eat starting in November	Merits: moderately heavy cropper; spreading tree; adapts to a variety of soils; scab and insect resistant; highly aromatic; fruit keeps well Faults: slow to mature; susceptible to fire blight Ratings: Bull1891: 10/**; Bull09: vg-b; Downing: "one of the highest flavored Pears that we have known," best; Elliott: best; Hedrick: best
Winter Cole (Winter Nelis open pollinated) Victoria, Australia, 1880s GRIN	small to medium rounder than classic pear shape	yellowish green, dotted with russet yellowish white, high flavored, sugary, crisp; very juicy	harvest in mid or late October so mellowed and ready to eat starting in December	Merits: heavy cropper; highly aromatic; fruit keeps well; resistant to scab; non-browning flesh; late blooming. Faults: slow to mature; can be biennial; susceptible to fire blight Ratings: Hedrick: vg
Bull1891 = "Catalog of Fruits Recommended for Cultivation; Division I: Fruits Mainly Adapted to Northern Localities; Section 1: Apples," U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Pomology. Bulletin, 1891 [Ratings are from 1 (very poor) to 10 (best); rating after / indicates notation for District No. 2 that includes New York's Finger Lakes (NR either not reported or not recommended; * known to succeed; ** highly successful; + promising]. Revisions were made in 1897 and 1899, but no changes were made in pear ratings. Bull1909 refers to the revision of 1909 when more traditional ratings replaced the numerical system: g=good, vg=very good, and vg-b=very good to best. Bridgeman: Thomas Bridgeman. The Fruit Cultivator's Manual, Containing Ample Directions for the Cultivation of the Most Important Fruits Including Cranberry, the Fig, and Grape, with Descriptive Lists of the Most Admired Varieties, 1847. Downing = Andrew Jackson Downing. The Fruits and Fruit-Trees of America, 1865; Elliott = Franklin Elliott. Handbook for Fruit Growers, 1876. From his list of the best pear varieties. Hedrick = U.P. Hedrick. The Pears of New York, 1921. GRIN = detailed descriptions of pear varieties from the collection of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. Pears are part of National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon.

Tips for picking pears

Ralph Waldo Emerson biographer John McAleer wrote of Emerson that "In autumn and in winter he kept pears ripening on the back of his bookshelves and, on occasion, might interrupt his work to reward himself with one. The selection was done with care since he believed there were only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it was perfect to eat." The idea is older than Emerson, and has also been attributed to an unknown French gourmand. [Thanks to quotation sleuth Garson O'Toole for tracking that quote down for me.]

Most pears do not ripen well on the tree, at least as far as humans are concerned. They ripen from the inside out while on the tree, and humans don't like that. For the best eating experience, pears need to be picked when their fruit is mature but not fully ripe. Hmm? Mature in this case means slightly immature, but far enough along that that they will ripen properly. These are some tips to figure out when that moment is. Keep in mind, however, that I'm still trying to figure it out.

Clues

Wait for them to be full size. This tip requires knowing when they are full size and factoring in how much thinning was done on the tree and how hot and wet the season has been.
Watch for the changes in the skin. Unfortunately the differences can be subtle, and different pears do different things. Some brighten in color, but red varieties lose brightness. Some change to its mature color. Some go from green to yellow. Bosc goes from green to bronze. Unfortunately this works for some varieties, but not other.
Look for drops. Pears can drop for several reasons, but one of them is they were ready to be picked.
Check the calendar. Keep your own records or check on line for when others have harvested pears. The harvest times listed here are for the Finger Lakes area of New York State. We are in Zone 5b according to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, but since we are in a frost pocket it is more like Zone 5a. However, the same tree can ripen up to two weeks either way from an average harvest date.
Cut one open and check the color of the seed color. Mature pears have dark brown seeds.

Testing by picking

Grab a pear gently and tilt it up until it is higher than horizontal. If the pear's stem breaks away easily, it was indeed a ready-to-be-picked pear. If it doesn’t, let it stay on the tree for another day.
You can add a slight twist as you tilt to double check.

Waiting for pears

Most varieties of pears take about a week or ten days to ripen after they have been (properly) picked. Once they have been picked, leave them at room temperature. Don't refrigerate unripe pears.* For faster results, put them in a brown paper bag. Then you may only have to wait four or five days. Also the higher the room temperature, the more quickly they will ripen.
*That is the common advice. However, pear expert David Sugar says pears actually need to be chilled in order to ripen properly. So perhaps you should refrigerate them.
As Emerson may have observed, there is a narrow window when pears are at their perfection for eating.
To test a pear, pinch it around the stem or apply pressure toward the area near the stem with a finger or thumb. If it gives slightly, it’s ready to be consumed – even if elsewhere the pear still feels firm. This is supposed to work well, but we are still trying to figure out just what to giving slightly means.
Once they are ripe, it is fine to store pears in the refrigerator.

Exceptions

Some early ripening varieties, called summer pears by some, can be picked ripe straight off the tree. We pick Giffard and Tyson ripe of the tree. Most of their fruits are just right for fresh eating, but others not quite ready to eat, and a few have already gone mushy. Although Clapp's Favorite also ripens early, we pick them like most pears – a week or more before they are ready to eat.
Seckel doesn't ripen early, but it has a reputation of ripening well on the tree. When you are trying to figure out if Seckels are ready to pick, things to look for are the background skin color turning from green to yellow-green and the skin developing a waxy look. Like other pears, also check for softness around the stem, look for drops, and sample one. If some are ripe and others aren't, pick both kinds and just deal with the unripe ones like other pears.
Bosc pears can be difficult to separate from its twig even when they should be picked.

This page written and maintained by John R. Henderson [jhenderson @ ithaca.edu].
Last modified: Ground Hog's Day, 2024
URL: http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/pear.html

The Orchard at Sage Hen Farm: Pears

The Orchard at
Sage Hen Farm:
Pears