North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Melissa Kacalanos <mijwiz@yahoo.com>]

Cool, I sent an email indicating my interest. From the description, it 
reminds me of Goldrush apple, which is so inedibly hard and sour in fall, 
even insects and squirrels won't eat it. After mellowing in storage for 
months, it's finally delicious in spring, with a good sweet/tart balance and 
lots of aromatic flavor. Am I right in thinking this pear is similar?

If the tree is so vigorous, it must require a lot of pruning. I'd be 
concerned that a dwarfing rootstock might not be sufficient to anchor it 
properly if it's allowed to grow too big. I've requested mine on standard 
rootstock. I don't mind a big tree. Although I can imagine others would want 
it on the most dwarfing rootstock possible, to try to keep its vigor in 
bounds. 

I'd be curious to plant seeds from this tree. To me, pears tend to err on the 
side of blandness. I'd like to taste a pear with a classic dessert pear 
texture but a bit more oomph in taste. If this pear has been pollinated by 
more classic dessert pears, the seedlings may be interesting. 

I passed your post along to the NAFEX Facebook group. I wanted to also put it 
in the Gardenweb Fruit and Orchards forum, but it was too long. You could 
edit it down and post it there. 

Melissa