North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

Anton,
   You are a big help (sarcasm here).  Hey, I have to look up Wilder Early 
now, if yours is living.  See, the same week I picked off this tasteless 
cooking only pear that I assumed had to be "Early Harvest", someone at work 
brought in a different pear from her grandmother's tree and I didn't hear 
about them till they were mush.  The fruit are smaller, skinnier, and have a 
tougher skin that what I picked.  Apparently they also were juicy and sweet. 
The tree here in town made woody fruit with no acid and very little flavor. 
They were fine cooked with acid fruits: gooseberries, blackberries, 
underripe blueberries(the Baldwins have no flavor when ripe).  I put some in 
a curry with summer squash, and when I put a peice of pear in my mouth I 
couldn't tell it apart from the squash.  Kieffers have a lot more character. 
the one thing you can say for it, besides being early and not sour, is that 
there was no grit at all.  The skin is thin and no grit in it either, so 
required no peeling to cook.
   I have asked for some summer budwood from the coworkers tree.  This is 
all so exciting.  there won't be too many varieties to choose from to ID it 
this early in the year.   Donna