Fruit ripe the last of November and December; large, 3-1/2 in. long, 2-5/8 in. wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform, the surface uneven; stem 1-1/4 in. long, slender; cavity very obtuse and shallow or lacking, the flesh drawn up about the base of the stem in a lip; calyx partly open, small; lobes separated at the base, short, narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, obtuse, wrinkled; skin thick, roughened with russet; color greenish-yellow, mottled and patched with russet, sprinkled with many russet dots and often with russet overspreading nearly the entire surface; dots numerous, russet, small; flesh yellowish, very granular near the center, firm, crisp but tender, juicy, with a pleasant, aromatic, vinous flavor; quality good to very good. Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds small, short, plump, acute, light brown. [Illustration: SUDDUTH] SUDDUTH =1.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 144, Pl. 1894. =2.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 141. 1894. =3.= _Can. Hort._ =19=:126, figs. 936 and 937. 1896. =4.= _Gard. Chron._ 3rd Ser. =19=:108. 1896. =5.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 9. 1897. =6.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ =2=:264. 1903. Sudduth has little to recommend it for New York or eastern pear regions, but it is a standard sort in parts of the Mississippi Valley. The characters which give it a place in the pear flora of the region just named are remarkable freedom from blight, hardiness to cold and heat, capacity to withstand drought, early bearing, and great productiveness. The fruits are neither attractive in appearance nor high in quality--hardly fit for dessert, being but a grade or two better than the disreputable Kieffer. Like those of the Kieffer, however, the fruits do very well for all culinary purposes. They do not keep well as they soften at the center soon after becoming edible. The trees are said to be nearly as hardy as those of the wild crab-apple. The variety is desirable only where hardiness and freedom from blight are prime requisites. The Sudduth pear was introduced about 1895, although the parent tree was at that time fully seventy years old. It originated from seed planted by Thomas Constant in 1820, in Sangamon County, Illinois. Later, Judge Stephen A. Logan of Springfield, Abraham Lincoln's first law partner, acquired the property on which the tree stood and from him Titus Sudduth bought the place in 1862. Sudduth was so impressed with the fruit that he had trees propagated by Augustine and Company, Normal, Illinois, and disseminated under his name.