North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Charles Paradise <machelp@attglobal.net>]

>some people like their pears gritty, which I
>certainly can't account for. :-)

I'd be interested in knowing which varieties of pear are
non-gritty.  I still hate fresh pears.... because the only
ones I've ever tasted were definitely gritty.
Pat

It's not a bit clear to me that earlier growers ever ATE their gritty pears.
A gritty pear tree at corner of property has been here about 45 years. 
Definitely NOT for fresh eating [$850 dental crown to prove it]. 
For years it puzzled me what the gritty pear could be used for, canned
it was still gritty as it was fresh.  Then I took its pieces, ran
it through a regular centrifugal carrot juicer and made juice.  The
juice was only "OK" - drinkable but not a lot of fun.  Then I made
a bottle of wine out of it [or Perry, if you prefer] and the wine was as
good as any bottle of white wine under $20/bottle.  So finally I found
a use for the gritty pear.

Pat, as for what's non-gritty, I always thought Bosc were smooth and non-gritty.  I also discovered a spurry Bosc-looking seedling locally that is very smooth and sweet.  I don't think its hard to find non-gritty pears, is it?  I believe it gets hard when we try to grow the highest-tasting pears then pollination often comes hard.

Charlie Paradise
Massachusetts