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Bloodgood

Pear
USDA watercolor illustration of Bloodgood

USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

Bloodgood

Origin / History

Bloodgood is an American variety from Long Island, New York. It was brought to notice about 1835 by the late James Bloodgood, nurseryman of Flushing, Long Island, and named from that circumstance (Downing; Hedrick 1922). The sort was brought to that nursery as a new variety, without a name, by some person on Long Island unknown to Mr. Bloodgood, who was never able afterward to trace its history further (Downing). It has long been a standard summer pear in America, surpassing any European associates of its season in both fruit- and tree-characters (Hedrick 1922). Downing called it the highest flavored of all early pears, deserving a place even in the smallest garden, and held that it surpasses every European variety of the same season and, together with Dearborn's Seedling (another native sort), will supplant all inferior early pears. Bibliographic citations recorded by Hedrick (1921) include Mag. Hort. 3:14 (1837); Manning Book of Fruits 65 (1838); Mag. Hort. 9:366, fig. 31 (1843); Downing Fr. Trees Am. 332, fig. 132 (1845); Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51 (1848); Mas Le Verger 2:181, fig. 89 (1866–73); Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:449, fig. (1867); Hogg Fruit Man. 532 (1884); and Mathieu Nom. Pom. 186 (1889).

Tree

The tree is upright, dense, and slow-growing, productive, long-lived, and attains large size (Hedrick 1922). Downing and Elliott describe it as rather short-jointed, with deep reddish-brown wood, growing moderately fast (Downing) or as a moderate grower (Elliott). It bears early and regularly (Downing; Hedrick 1922). The trees are resistant to blight, healthy, and hardy (Hedrick 1922). Elliott notes that it requires a rich, deep, warm soil to produce good-flavored fruit. Branches are zigzag, reddish-brown, marked with few small lenticels. Leaves 2½ inches long, 1½ inches wide, oval, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1¼ inches long, slender, tinged red. Flowers early, 1¼ inches across, borne in dense clusters of 7 or 8 buds (Hedrick 1922).

Fruit

Size

Medium, or sometimes below medium (Elliott); specifically 2 inches long and 2½ inches wide (Hedrick 1922).

Form

Turbinate, inclining to obovate (Downing; Thomas), thickening or contracting very abruptly into the stalk (Downing; Thomas); ovate-obovate (Elliott); obovate, nearly turbinate (Budd & Hansen); roundish-pyriform to acute-pyriform, symmetrical, uniform, with equal sides (Hedrick 1922).

Stem / Stalk

Stalk obliquely inserted, without depression, short, dark brown, fleshy at its base (Downing); fleshy at base (Elliott); stalk fleshy at insertion, an inch and a fourth long, set on the rounded base without depression (Thomas); stalk oblique, inserted at top of neck without cavity (Budd & Hansen); stem ¾ inch long, thick (Hedrick 1922).

Cavity

Almost or entirely without depression (Downing; Thomas; Budd & Hansen). Hedrick (1922) describes the cavity as russeted, lipped, and drawn up in fleshy folds about the stem.

Calyx

Strong, open, set almost without depression (Downing); open (Elliott); scarcely sunk (Thomas); open and small, with lobes separated at the base, short, broad, and obtuse (Hedrick 1922).

Basin

Narrow, obtuse, smooth, symmetrical (Hedrick 1922). Other sources indicate the calyx is set almost without depression, implying little to no basin (Downing; Thomas).

Skin

Yellow, sprinkled with russet dots and network markings, giving it a russety look on one side (Downing); yellow, with russet marblings and dots (Elliott); yellow, touched with russet (Thomas); yellow, with russet dots and net-work russeting (Budd & Hansen); skin thick, tough, roughish; color bright yellow, with patches and nettings of russet, producing a mottled russet effect; dots many, small, russet (Hedrick 1922). The thin skin has a musky aromatic perfume (Downing).

Flesh / Flavor

Yellowish white, buttery, and melting, with a rich, sugary, highly aromatic flavor (Downing); yellowish white, melting; "very good" (Elliott); yellowish white, buttery, and melting, with a fine, rich, aromatic flavor (Thomas); yellowish white, buttery, melting, with rich flavor, very good, and in some climates best (Budd & Hansen); flesh tinged yellow, granular, melting, buttery, rich, very juicy, sweet, highly flavored, aromatic; quality very good (Hedrick 1922). The fruits are meritorious for flesh of fine texture, which is melting, juicy, and has a rich, sweet, perfumed flavor (Hedrick 1922). Quality is variable — very good one season and poor another; reports of poor flavor arise from the fact that the quality is always poor if the fruit is not picked as soon as fully grown and ripened indoors (Hedrick 1922). Thomas notes that on some soils the flavor becomes poor and insipid, and that it sometimes rots at the core.

Core / Seeds

Core small (Downing; Elliott); core small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, conical; seeds small, short, plump, acute (Hedrick 1922). Sometimes rots at the core (Thomas).

Season

Ripe from the 5th of July to the 10th of August (Downing); early August (Elliott); ripens middle of August (Thomas); season in New York is August, with fruit maturing in late August (Hedrick 1922). Like all early pears, the fruit is better if ripened in the house (Downing; Thomas), and the quality is always poor unless picked as soon as fully grown and ripened indoors (Hedrick 1922).

Uses

Widely disseminated and popular as a home summer variety (Budd & Hansen). The variety has little value in commercial plantations but is prized for home use (Hedrick 1922). Downing recommended it for even the smallest garden.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Hedrick (1921) records the German designation "Bloodgood's Sommerbirne" (Mathieu Nom. Pom. 186, 1889).

Book Sources

Described in 6 period pomological works

Nursery Catalog Sources

Found in 21 catalogs (1845–1912) from Alabama, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon

View original book sources (6)

Bloodgood.

Early Beurre.

The Bloodgood is the highest flavored of all early Pears, and deserves a place even in the smallest garden. It was named from the circumstance of its having been brought into notice, about 1835, by the late James Bloodgood, nurseryman, Flushing, L. I. The sort was brought to that nursery as a new variety, without a name, however, by some person on Long Island, unknown to Mr. B., who was never able afterward to trace its history further. The tree is rather short-jointed, with deep reddish brown wood, grows moderately fast, and bears early and regularly. The fruit, like that of all early pears, is better if ripened in the house. It surpasses every European variety of the same season, and together with the Dearborn's Seedling, another native sort, will supplant all inferior early pears.

Fruit of medium size, turbinate, inclining to obovate, thickening very abruptly into the stalk. Skin yellow, sprinkled with russet dots and network markings, giving it a russety look on one side. Calyx strong, open, set almost without depression. Stalk obliquely inserted, without depression, short, dark brown, fleshy at its base. Flesh yellowish white, buttery, and melting, with a rich sugary, highly aromatic flavor. The thin skin has a musky aromatic perfume. Very good. Core small. Ripe from the 5th of July to the 10th of August.

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

BLOODGOOD

  1. Mag. Hort. 3:14. 1837. 2. Manning Book of Fruits 65. 1838. 3. Mag. Hort. 9:366, fig. 31. 1843. 4. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 332, fig. 132. 1845. 5. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 6. Mas Le Verger 2:181, fig. 89. 1866-73. 7. Leroy Dict. Pom. 1:449, fig. 1867. 8. Hogg Fruit Man. 532. 1884.

Bloodgood's Sommerbirne. 9. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 186. 1889.

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

Bloodgood.

American. From Flushing, L. I. The tree is a moderate grower, with reddish brown, short-jointed wood : a regular bearer. We think it requires a rich, deep, warm soil to produce good-flavored fruit. Fruit, medium, or below, ovate obovate, yellow, with russet marblings and dots ; calyx, open ; stem, fleshy at base ; core, small ; flesh, yellowish white, melting ; "very good." Early August.

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

Bloodgood.* Size medium, turbinate, approaching obovate, base contracted abruptly to the stalk; yellow, touched with russet; stalk fleshy at insertion, an inch and a fourth long, set on the rounded base without depression; calyx scarcely sunk; flesh yellowish white, buttery, and melting, with a fine, rich, aromatic flavor. Sometimes rots at the core. On some soils the flavor becomes poor and insipid. Ripens middle of August. Like all early pears, it is best if house-ripened. Origin, Long Island, N. Y. Fig. 678.

— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)

Bloodgood. — Medium, obovate, nearly turbinate; color yellow, with russet dots, and net-work russeting; stalk oblique, inserted at top of neck without cavity. Flesh yellowish white, buttery, melting, with rich flavor, very good, and in some climates best. Widely disseminated and popular as a home summer variety. Long Island.

— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)

BLOODGOOD. Bloodgood has long been a standard summer pear in America, surpassing any European associates of its season, in both fruit- and tree-characters. The fruits are meritorious for flesh of fine texture, which is melting, juicy, and has a rich, sweet, perfumed flavor. The quality is variable, being very good one season and poor another. The reports of poor flavor arise from the fact that the quality is always poor if the fruit is not picked as soon as fully grown and ripened indoors. The season in New York is August. The trees are resistant to blight, healthy, hardy, bear young and regularly, are long-lived, and attain large size. The variety has little value in commercial plantations, but is prized for home use. Bloodgood seems to have been brought to notice about 1835 by James Bloodgood, Flushing, Long Island. Tree upright, dense, slow-growing, productive; branches zigzag, reddish-brown, marked with few small lenticels. Leaves 2½ inches long, 1½ inches wide, oval, leathery; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 1¼ inches long, slender, tinged red. Flowers early, 1¼ inches across, in dense clusters, 7 or 8 buds in a cluster. Fruit matures in late August; medium in size, 2 inches long, 2½ inches wide, roundish-pyriform to acute-pyriform, symmetrical, uniform, with equal sides; stem ¾ inch long, thick; cavity russeted, lipped, drawn up in fleshy folds about the stem; calyx open, small; lobes separated at the base, short, broad, obtuse; basin narrow, obtuse, smooth, symmetrical; skin thick, tough, roughish; color bright yellow, with patches and nettings of russet, producing a mottled russet effect; dots many, small, russet; flesh tinged yellow, granular, melting, buttery, rich, very juicy, sweet, highly flavored, aromatic; quality very good; core small, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, narrow, conical; seeds small, short, plump, acute.

— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)
Bloodgood's Sommerbirne Early Beurre JARGONELLE Le Curé Pear Orange Orange Rouge Vicar Of Winkfield