Beurre d'Aremberg

Beurré d'Aremberg.

Duc d'Aremberg. Deschamps. Colmar Deschamps. D'Aremberg Parfait. L'Orpheline. Beurré des Orphelines. Beurre Burchardt. Orpheline d'Enghien. Beurre Deschamps. Délices des Orphelins.

The Beurré d'Aremberg is a fine fruit, high-flavored, bears most abundantly, and always keeps and matures with perhaps less care than most other winter fruits in the house.

The Beurré d'Aremberg was raised by the Abbé Deschamps, in the garden of the Hospice des Orphelines, at Enghien. The Beurré d'Aremberg of many French catalogues is the Glout Morceau. The two sorts are easily distinguished. The fruit of the d'Aremberg has a short, or thicker stalk, usually bent to one side; its flavor is vinous instead of sugary, and its wood not so strong, with more deeply serrated leaves. Branches clear yellowish brown, dotted with pale specks. Tree unhealthy and subject to canker.

Fruit obovate, but narrowing a good deal to the stalk. Skin thick, rather uneven, pale greenish yellow, becoming yellow at maturity, with many tracings and spots of light russet. Stalk short, half an inch to an inch long, thick, and very fleshy, especially where it joins the fruit, and usually planted very obliquely. Calyx short and small, set in a deep basin. Flesh white, buttery, and melting, with an abundant, rich, delicious vinous juice. Very good. December.

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

BEURRÉ D'ARENBERG¹

1. Trans. Lond. Hort. Soc. 5:406. 1824. 2. Lindley Guide Orch. Gard. 392. 1831. 3. Prince Pom. Man. 1:51. 1831. 4. Kenrick Am. Orch. 188. 1832. 5. Ibid. 156. 1841. 6. Gard. Chron. 716, fig. 2. 1844. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 423, fig. 195. 1845. 8. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 9. Hovey Fr. Am. 1:1, Pl. 1851. 10. Mass. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 93, Pl. 1852. 11. Mas Le Verger 1:161, fig. 79. 1866-73. 12. Hogg Fruit Man. 510. 1884.

Orpheline d'Enghien. 13. Ann. Pom. Belge 3:35, Pl. 1855. 14. Guide Prat. 108, 292. 1876.

In favorable locations this pear seems to possess all of the characters which constitute a first-class fruit; but, notwithstanding, although it has been in the country nearly a century, it is now scarcely to be found in the nurseries, and orchard trees are becoming rare. The fruits are distinguished by their refreshing, vinous taste and long-keeping qualities. Very often, however, they do not ripen in eastern America, and when not properly ripened the pears are highly acidulous and so astringent as to be almost intolerable to the taste. The frequency with which these poor fruits are borne, always on heavy, cold clays and in cold climates, coupled with rather small, short-lived trees, condemn the variety for most pear regions in the East. In the far West, the crop ripens better, and the pears are splendid winter fruits. The merits of the variety are so varying in New York that it is not now worth while attempting to bring it into new life.

Beurré d'Arenberg, in the opinion of some European writers, holds first place among the pears produced by French and Belgian pomologists. Unfortunately, Beurré d'Arenberg and Glou Morceau are often mistaken the one for the other. Beurré d'Arenberg was raised by Monseigneur Deschamps, Abbé of the Orphan Hospital, Enghien, Belgium. At about the same time, M. Noisette, a nurseryman of Paris, sent out Glou Morceau, which he had procured from the gardens of the Duc d'Arenberg, under the name Beurré d'Arenberg, so that there were two distinct varieties in cultivation under the same name. The true Beurré d'Arenberg of the Abbé Deschamps came to this country about 1827, having been sent over by Thomas Andrew Knight, President of the London Horticultural Society, to the Hon. John Lowell of Boston. The American Pomological Society recommended this variety for cultivation in 1848, but in 1871 the name disappeared from the Society's catalog.

¹ The name is spelled by many writers Beurré d'Aremberg.

Tree medium in size and vigor, upright, very hardy and very productive; trunk and branches medium in thickness and smoothness; branchlets slender, short, light brown mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, with numerous, small, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds small, short, plump, free; leaf-scars with prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 in. long; 1½ in. wide; apex taper-pointed; margin glandless, finely serrate; petiole 1¼ in. long. Flower-buds small, short, sharply pointed, free, singly on short spurs.

Fruit ripe December to January; large, obovate-pyriform, ribbed; stem 1 in. long, thick, fleshy at the base, obliquely inserted; cavity lacking, drawn up in an oblique lip about the stem; calyx small, closed; lobes short, sometimes lacking; basin deep, smooth; skin roughish, thick, uneven; color yellow, with patches and tracings of russet especially around the calyx end; dots numerous, cinnamon-russet; flesh white, very juicy, melting, vinous or acidulous; quality very good. Core large; seeds large, roundish, plump.

— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)

THE BEURRÉ D'AREMBERG PEAR.

Beurré d'Aremberg. Hort. Trans. vol. v. p. 406.

Duc d'Aremberg, ) Deschamps, > Hort. Soc. Catalogue, 3d Ed. 1842. L'Orpoline, ) Beurré des Orphelines, ) Beurré Deschamps, } of some Collections. Colmar Deschamps, D'Aremberg Parfait, ) Soldat Labourer, of some French and Belgian Collections.

Among all the pears, which have been produced by the French and Belgian pomologists, none hold a higher rank than the Beurré d'Aremberg. It possesses, in a remarkable degree, all those superior qualities—hardiness, adaptation to various soils, productiveness, ripening freely, and keeping well—which constitute a first-class fruit. It is now upwards of twenty-five years since it was first introduced to England, and more than twenty years since it was added to American collections, through the liberality of the late Mr. Knight, who sent it to the Hon. John Lowell, from which source it has been disseminated; but it is, with us, comparatively a new variety, and, as yet, very little known. M. Noisette, a celebrated French cultivator, many years ago, as early as 1805, introduced to Paris a fine pear, which he brought from the Duc d'Aremberg's garden, in Belgium, which was widely disseminated as the Beurré d'Aremberg; but it subsequently proved to be the Glout Morceau, and hence has arisen the confusion which now exists in regard to these varieties. Probably not more than one in ten of all the trees which are sold from the French nurseries, are the true d'Aremberg; and it has been doubted by some, whether the latter is even known in their collections. Several of the English nurseries also disseminate the Glout Morceau under the name of the Beurré d'Aremberg, and many American nurserymen still continue the same error. It is singular that so great a mistake should have been so long perpetuated, when the trees are so very dissimilar; and it shows how important, in the identification of varieties, are the wood, leaves, and habit of growth of the tree.

The Beurré d'Aremberg was raised about thirty-five years ago, by the Abbé Deschamps, at Enghein, in the garden of the Hospice des Orphelines, in that city. Deschamps called it, after the place, Beurré des Orphelines; M. Van Mons soon after named it Beurré Beauchamps, in honor of its discoverer; others called it Beurré d'Hardenpont; and finally, the name of Beurré d'Aremberg was given to it by mistake, but, becoming most general, it has been retained.

After so many years of confusion, in regard to the Beurré d'Aremberg and Glout Morceau, it is a principal object with cultivators to know every means of identifying the two kinds; and we have selected these two varieties, not only on account of their intrinsic merits, but in order to bring together a comparison in this respect. The fruits of the two ripen at the same season, and often have a great resemblance; but in all other characteristics there can be no two kinds scarcely more unlike. The habit of growth of the Beurré d'Aremberg is erect and regular,—that of the Glout Morceau, spreading and irregular. This we have illustrated in the vignettes accompanying our descriptions of each, which are taken from our specimen trees, three years planted out, and now in a bearing state. The wood of the Beurré d'Aremberg is slender, long-jointed, with short, roundish buds, and of a clear yellowish brown;—that of the Glout Morceau, stout, short-jointed, with very prominent, pointed, diverging buds, and of a dark olive. The leaves of the former are narrow and folded, with scarcely any serrature;—those of the latter, broad, wavy, and deeply serrated.

The Beurré d'Aremberg is a most productive variety, and to have the fruit of good size it is necessary to thin them considerably. The fruit has, also, the rare merit of not being blown off the trees easily by heavy winds. It grows freely either upon the quince or pear, and comes into bearing, generally, about the third year. It prefers a good strong loamy soil, but produces good crops on such as are quite unfavorable to some other varieties. The fruit, when gathered, if put into clean barrels or boxes and placed in a cool situation, ripens as freely as the Baldwin apple.

Tree.—Moderately vigorous, erect, with upright branches, rather compact and regular in growth; the lateral shoots often pushing near the extremity of the main branches.

Wood.—Clear yellowish brown, sprinkled with oblong, pale brown specks; on trees of some age, slightly raised above the bark; growth erect, rather slender, long-jointed, with small, short, plump buds: Flower-buds oval, with smooth brown scales.

Leaves.—Medium size, oblong, tapering little to the end, rather light green, nearly entire on the old wood, but slightly serrated on the young growth, somewhat folded, and often with the mid-rib much recurved: petioles medium length.

Flowers.—Large, yellowish white; petals oblong, recurved at the edges, and tapering much to the claw, which is long.

Fruit.—Medium size, often large, about three inches long and two and three quarters in diameter: Form, obovate, slightly angular, full at the crown, and tapering gradually to the stem: Skin, somewhat rough, pale green, becoming pale yellow when mature, russeted around the eye, with many tracings and slight markings of bright russet over the surface: Stem, short, about half an inch, stout, knobby and uneven, green and brown, fleshy at the base, and very obliquely inserted without any cavity: Eye, small, closed, and deeply sunk in a smooth, funnel-shaped basin; segments of the calyx short, sometimes entirely absent: Flesh, yellowish white, rather coarse, melting and very juicy: Flavor, exceedingly rich, vinous, refreshing and delicious, with a high perfume: Core, large: Seeds, large, roundish, plump, pale brown.

The usual season of maturity is January, but it often ripens as early as November, and, with little care, it may frequently be kept till February.

— C.M. Hovey, The Fruits of America (1852)

BEURRE D'AREMBERG.

Due d'Aremberg, Soldat Laboureur, of some, Beurré des Orphelines, Colmar Deschamps, Deschamps, Orpheline d'Enghein. L'Orphelines, D'Aremberg Parfait,

A foreign variety which has been often confounded with Glout Morceau and Soldat Laboureur, from both of which it is distinct. The wood is strong, long-jointed, yellowish brown, dotted with pale gray specks; leaves, narrow, deeply serrated; trees, very hardy, bear young on the pear root, annually and abundantly; the fruit hangs well, and may be gathered and ripened at will from December to February. A warm, rich soil suits it best.

Fruit, above medium, obovate, obtuse pyriform, tapering toward the stem, where it often terminates in a fleshy junction; color, dull pale green, at maturity light yellow, clouded with green, with traces and patches of light cinnamon russet; stem, short, stout, uneven, set obliquely, without depression; calyx, small, closed, segments short; basin, rather deep; core, medium; seeds, light brown, acutely pointed; flesh, white, juicy, melting, vinous. December to February.

— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)