_Dana's No. 16._ =2.= _Mag. Hort._ =19=:541. 1853. =3.= _Ibid._
=20=:136. 1854.
_Dana's Hovey._ =4.= _Mag. Hort._ =25=:202, fig. 10. 1859. =5.= _Am.
Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 68. 1862. =6.= _Gard. Chron._ 1191, fig. 1866. =7.=
Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 730. 1869. =8=. Hogg _Fruit Man._ 556. 1884.
=9.= _Garden_ =49=:226. 1896.
_Danas Hovey._ =10.= _Gard. Chron._ 3rd Ser. =47=:67, fig. 39. 1910.
Dana Hovey is a delicious little dessert pear, so juicy, sweet, and
rich that it is a veritable sweetmeat. The fruits are so similar to
those of Seckel that the variety is sometimes called "Winter Seckel."
Dana Hovey is one of the best pears to succeed Seckel. The fruits come
in season about the middle of November and keep six weeks in ordinary
storage. The flavor is that of Winter Nelis with a smack of Seckel. If
the fruits are picked early and kept in a dry, cool place they ripen
early in December with a rich, golden color strewn with russet. It is
in the same class with Seckel as to size of fruit, although the pears
average larger and are more uniform in size from different trees and
in different seasons. The pears are also more brightly colored than
those of Seckel. Superiority in size and color makes the fruits of this
variety much more attractive than those of the better-known Seckel.
The trees are hardy, vigorous, and thrive on various soils but are
only moderately productive and are somewhat susceptible to blight,
falling far short of those of Seckel in these characters, for which
reason the last-named variety is the better for commercial plantations.
Dana Hovey is one of few winter pears with fruits of high quality, and
thus is very desirable for home plantations and ought to have value in
commercial plantations.
Francis Dana, Roxbury, Massachusetts, was an indefatigable raiser of
new fruits, there being no fewer than sixteen varieties of pears with
the prefix "Dana's," of which the one under notice is the best of all.
It was introduced to the public about 1854 under the name of Dana's
Hovey in honor of C. M. Hovey, the well-known nurseryman of Boston and
author of _The Fruits of America_. Dana Hovey is so similar to Seckel
that the latter is supposed to be one of its parents. The variety was
added to the American Pomological Society's fruit-list in 1862.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, rapid-growing, productive;
trunk stocky; branches reddish-brown mingled with green which is
almost completely overspread with gray scarf-skin, marked by few
small lenticels; branchlets thick, short, light brown mingled with
green, marked with ash-gray at the tips, smooth, glabrous, with small,
scattering, slightly raised lenticels.
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