Tree medium in size, vigorous, upright, dense-topped, very productive; branches slender, zigzag, reddish-brown overlaid with grayish scarf-skin, marked with numerous raised, large lenticels; branchlets slender, very long, with characteristically long internodes, rough, zigzag, marked with numerous large, raised, conspicuous lenticels. Leaves 3-1/4 in. long, 1-3/4 in. wide; apex abruptly pointed; margin glandless, serrate; petiole 2 in. long. Flowers early, showy, 1-1/2 in. across, in dense clusters, 6 or 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 in. long, thick. Fruit ripens in August; large, 2-3/4 in. long, 3-1/4 in. wide, varies from obovate-obtuse-pyriform to globular-obtuse-pyriform, with unequal sides; stem 7/8 in. long, thick, curved, woody; cavity very small and narrow, often with a lip drawn up around one side of the stem; calyx partly open; lobes narrow, often reflexed; basin narrow, obtuse, gently furrowed; skin thin, tender, smooth; color pale yellow, overspread on the exposed cheek with a bright red blush; dots numerous, small, greenish or russet, obscure; flesh whitish or often salmon-color, firm, tough, medium juicy, lacking sweetness; quality poor. Core unusually small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds short, wide, plump, obtuse, few in number. [Illustration: LE CONTE] LE CONTE =1.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 8, 29. 1878. =2.= _Ia. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 303. 1879. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 38. 1883. =4.= _Gard. Mon._ =27=:282. 1885. =5.= _Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 55. 1885. =6.= Black _Cult. Peach & Pear_ 234. 1886. =7.= _Cornell Sta. Bul._ =332=:484. 1913. =8.= Ont. Dept. Agr. _Fr. Ont._ 169. 1914. Le Conte is a hybrid between the Chinese Sand pear and a European sort, therefore similar in parentage to Kieffer which it greatly resembles in both tree and fruit. The fruits are rather poorer in quality than those of Kieffer, if that be possible for an edible fruit, and the tree is in no way superior to that of its better-known rival, but seems to succeed better in warm climates and light soils. There is, therefore, a place for Le Conte in the South, and possibly on parts of Long Island, if a pear is wanted for culinary purposes only. The fruits sometimes rot badly at the core, and should usually be harvested as soon as they attain full size. The trees are more susceptible to blight than those of Kieffer. In the South, the trees are often, if not usually, propagated from cuttings. Le Conte originated in America, and is probably a hybrid between the Chinese Sand pear and some native. It is supposed to have been carried from Philadelphia to Georgia about 1850 by Major Le Conte, and has since been extensively cultivated in the southern States for northern markets. In 1885 it was recommended by the Georgia Horticultural Society for cultivation in the middle region of that State. The American Pomological Society added Le Conte to its fruit-catalog in 1883.