This variety is still on probation in America, with the chances
strongly against it proving worthy to bear the name of the man after
whom it was called. On the grounds of the New York Agricultural
Experiment Station, the fruits are too small, too poorly colored, and
too poor in quality to compete with those of a score of other sorts
of the same season. The core is remarkably small, and the seeds are
few and small, but these are insufficient merits to count against the
several defects named. The tree is robust and generally satisfactory.
The variety may not be at its best on the grounds of this Station, as
in Europe it was heralded as a most remarkable sort--one "destined to
bring about a revolution in pear-growing." It may be worth further
trial in New York.
This pear was introduced in 1905 by the noted French pomologist Charles
Baltet, Troyes, France, after he had tested it for several years.
He named it after President Roosevelt. The variety was approved at
Horticultural Congresses in Paris, Lyons, and Orléans, as well as by
the Royal Horticultural Society of London. It was received in America
shortly after its dissemination in France.
Tree medium to large, vigorous, very upright, dense-topped,
rapid-growing, productive; trunk slender, smooth; branches slender,
smooth, glossy reddish-brown, mottled and overlaid with gray
scarf-skin, marked with numerous small, raised lenticels; branchlets
characteristically thick, with blunt ends, long, with short
internodes, dull reddish-brown mingled with gray scarf-skin, smooth,
glabrous, with many large, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds long, conical, sharply pointed, plump, free; leaf-scars with
prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 in. long, 1-3/8 in. wide, stiff; apex
taper-pointed; margin usually glandless, finely serrate to almost
entire; petiole 2 in. long, slender, curved. Flower-buds large,
long, conical, pointed, free, singly on short spurs; flowers with a
disagreeable odor, early, showy, 1-5/8 in. across, in dense clusters,
average 7 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1-1/8 in. long, thick, pubescent.
Fruit ripens in late September and October; medium in size, about
2-7/16 in. in length and width, roundish-obtuse-pyriform, symmetrical;
stem 1 in. long, thick; cavity very shallow, or lacking, faintly
lipped; calyx very open, large; lobes separated at the base, narrow,
acute; basin shallow, wide, obtuse, smooth, symmetrical; skin
unusually thick, tough, smooth, dull; color pale lemon-yellow, mottled
and netted with russet, with a faint blush; dots numerous, small,
light russet, obscure; flesh light salmon, fine-grained except at
the center which is granular, tender and melting, very juicy, mildly
sweet, without much character; quality medium. Core small, closed,
axile, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube long, very wide, conical;
carpels cordate; seeds wide, acute.
[Illustration: RUTTER]
RUTTER
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