There are no good reasons why this pear should be grown, it having
received much more attention than it deserves during the half century
it has been in America. Perhaps it suffices to say that the fruits and
trees are in no way equal, except in size of fruit, to those of Seckel,
with which variety it would compete, although the crop ripens a little
later. While the pears are larger than those of Seckel, the yield is
not as great as the trees do not bear as regularly, nor abundantly.
The fruits are not as well flavored, nor as attractively colored. The
variety is still offered by many nurserymen, most of whom, however,
condemn it with faint praise.
According to Bunyard, Gansel Seckel was raised from seed a century ago
by a Mr. Williams of Pitmaston, Worcester, England. It was obtained by
crossing Seckel with Gansel Bergamot, whence its name.
Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, variable in yield;
branches slender, zigzag, sprinkled with numerous lenticels; branchlets
thick, light reddish-brown mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, with
small, roundish, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaf-buds small,
short, pointed, appressed. Leaves 2-1/4 in. long, 1-1/2 in. wide; apex
taper-pointed; margin tipped with few reddish glands, coarsely serrate;
petiole 1-1/4 in. long. Flower-buds small, short, conical, plump, free;
flowers open early, 1-1/4 in. across; pedicels 1/2 in. long.
Fruit ripens in late October and November; small to medium, 2-1/2
in. long, 2-3/8 in. wide, irregular, oblate-pyriform; stem 3/4 in.
long, stout; cavity variable in width, shallow, irregular; calyx
small, closed; lobes erect, acute; basin variable in width, deep; skin
roughened with russet, uneven; color pale yellow, overspread with thin
cinnamon-russet, sometimes faintly blushed on the exposed cheek; dots
distinct, cinnamon-russet; flesh yellowish-white, coarse, melting,
buttery, juicy, highly aromatic, with a rich perfume, sweet, but
without the spicy flavor of the Seckel; quality very good.
GARBER
=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 48. 1891. =2.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._
=2=:247. 1903. =3.= _Chico Nur. Cat._ 12. 1904. =4.= _Cornell Sta.
Bul._ =332=:481. 1913.
_Garber's Hybrid._ =5.= Black _Cult. Peach and Pear_ 229, 242. 1886.
=6.= Harcourt _Fla. Fruits_ 255. 1886. =7.= Hood Cat. 25. 1905.
A few trivial differences separate Garber from Kieffer--the fruits of
both are poor. The pears ripen a week or two earlier than those of
Kieffer, are a little rounder, flatter at the ends, and some say are
a little better in quality--certainly they are no worse to eat out of
hand. The tree is hardy to heat and cold, and is much planted in the
southern states, and in the Mississippi Valley, North and South. The
variety might be sparingly planted in New York as an ornamental.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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