Bloodgood
Pear
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Bloodgood
Origin / History
An American pear from Flushing, Long Island, N. Y. Downing says it was named from the circumstance of its having been brought into notice about 1835 by the late James Bloodgood, nurseryman, of Flushing. Some person on Long Island, unknown to Mr. Bloodgood, brought it to that nursery as a new variety without a name, and he was never afterward able to trace its history further. Hedrick (1922) says only that it "seems to have been brought to notice about 1835" by James Bloodgood. Hedrick's bibliography in The Pears of New York (1921) cites accounts from 1837 onward: Mag. Hort. (1837, and 1843 with fig. 31), Manning Book of Fruits (1838), Downing Fr. Trees Am. (1845, fig. 132), Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. (1848), Mas Le Verger (1866–73, fig. 89), Leroy Dict. Pom. (1867), Hogg Fruit Man. (1884), and Mathieu Nom. Pom. (1889).
Downing calls it "the highest flavored of all early Pears," one that "deserves a place even in the smallest garden." He says it surpasses every European variety of the same season, and that, together with Dearborn's Seedling, another native sort, it will supplant all inferior early pears. Budd and Hansen call it widely disseminated and popular as a home summer variety. Hedrick (1922) calls it long a standard summer pear in America, surpassing any European associates of its season in both fruit and tree characters.
Tree
Upright and dense, rather short-jointed; growth slow to moderately fast, Hedrick alone calling it slow-growing. Wood and branches deep reddish brown; branches zigzag, marked with few small lenticels (Hedrick). 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.
Bears early or young and regularly; productive. Hedrick calls the trees resistant to blight, healthy, hardy, and long-lived, and says they attain large size.
Elliott thinks it requires a rich, deep, warm soil to produce good-flavored fruit; Thomas says that on some soils the flavor becomes poor and insipid.
Fruit
Size: Medium; Elliott says medium or below. Hedrick measures it at 2 inches long and 2½ inches wide.
Form: Turbinate, inclining or approaching to obovate, the base thickening or contracting very abruptly into the stalk. Elliott calls it ovate obovate. Hedrick calls it roundish-pyriform to acute-pyriform, symmetrical, uniform, with equal sides.
Stem: Short, thick, dark brown, fleshy at its base, obliquely inserted without depression at the top of the neck, on the rounded base. Hedrick gives it as ¾ inch long; Thomas gives an inch and a fourth.
Cavity: The stalk is set without depression or cavity. Hedrick describes the cavity as russeted and lipped, drawn up in fleshy folds about the stem.
Calyx: Open; strong (Downing), small (Hedrick). Lobes separated at the base, short, broad, obtuse; calyx tube short, narrow, conical (Hedrick).
Basin: Scarcely sunk, the calyx set almost without depression. Hedrick calls the basin narrow, obtuse, smooth, and symmetrical.
Skin: Yellow to bright yellow, touched, marbled, and netted with russet in patches and network markings, producing a mottled russet effect; Downing says the markings give it a russety look on one side. Downing calls the skin thin, with a musky aromatic perfume; Hedrick calls it thick, tough, and roughish.
Dots: Many, small, russet, sprinkled over the surface.
Flesh and flavor: Yellowish white to tinged yellow, of fine texture, granular, buttery, melting, and very juicy. Flavor fine, rich, sugary and sweet, highly flavored, highly aromatic and perfumed. Quality "very good" (Elliott, Downing, Hedrick); Budd and Hansen give "very good, and in some climates best."
Hedrick says the quality is variable, very good one season and poor another. He says the reports of poor flavor arise because the quality is always poor if the fruit is not picked as soon as fully grown and ripened indoors.
Core and seeds: Core small, closed, with clasping core-lines (Hedrick). Thomas says the fruit sometimes rots at the core. Seeds small, short, plump, acute.
Season
Summer, from the 5th of July to late August. Most authors place it in August, from early to late. Downing alone begins it in July, giving the 5th of July to the 10th of August. Hedrick gives August as the season in New York, with the fruit maturing in late August. Like all early pears, it is better if ripened in the house.
Uses
A home-garden summer pear. Hedrick says it has little value in commercial plantations but is prized for home use.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 21 catalogs (1845–1912) from Alabama, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Joseph Breck & Co. , Boston , Massachusetts — 1855
- St. Helena Nursery , Howell Prairie, Marion County, OR (Marion Co., Ogn.) — 1864
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884
- Fancher Creek Nursery , Fresno , California — 1886
- Huntsville Wholesale Nurseries (Jessie S. Moss , Proprietor; W.F. Heikes, Manager), Huntsville , Alabama — 1886
- W.R. Strong & Co. , Capital and Orange Hill Nurseries (Robert Williamson, prop.), Sacramento , California — 1886
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1889
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1906
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1910
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1911
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1912
View original book sources (6)
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)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.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)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.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)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.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)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.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)BLOODGOOD
- 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, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)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.