American Summer Pearmain.

This delicious apple is supposed to be of American origin. It is essentially a fruit for the amateur; being of slender and slow growth in the nursery, it is not a favorite with the propagators, and though making a large and productive tree in the orchard, it is not profitable as a market variety.

Fruit medium, variable in form, being oblong, round, conic and even oblate, regular or unequal; Surface smooth, greenish yellow, more or less covered with dull purplish red, marbled, and made up of very short splashes, with distinct stripes and splashes of brighter red; Dots minute.

Fig. 207.—AMERICAN SUMMER PEARMAIN.

Basin medium, regular; Eye rather large, nearly closed; Segments recurved.

Cavity rather deep, acute, regular; Stem medium to long.

Core small, roundish, closed; Seeds small, pointed; Flesh yellow, exceedingly tender, almost melting, crisp, fine-grained, juicy; Flavor very mild sub-acid, aromatic, deliciously refreshing; Quality best; Use, the dessert; Season, August and September.

— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)

American Summer Pearmain. Early Summer Pearmain.

A rich, highly-flavored fruit, much esteemed where it is known. It appears to be quite different from the Summer Pearmain (of the English), and is probably a seedling raised from it. It ripens gradually from the tenth of August to the last of September. Tree moderately vigorous, with slender branches, round-headed. Young shoots dull reddish-brown. Fruit of medium size, oblong, widest at the crown, and tapering slightly to the eye. Skin red, spotted with yellow in the shade, but streaked with livelier red and yellow on the sunny side. Stalk three-fourths of an inch long, and pretty deeply inserted. Eye deeply sunk. Calyx closed. Segments short, erect. Basin abrupt, slightly corrugated. Flesh yellow, remarkably tender, with a rich and pleasant flavor, and often bursts in falling from the tree. Quality best. Core medium.

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

SUMMER PEARMAIN.

REFERENCES. 1. M'Mahon, Amer. Gard. Cal., 1806:585. 2. Coxe, 1817:104. fig. 3. Cobbett, 1821:par. 300. 4. Thacher, 1822:138. 5. Buel, N. Y. Bd. Agr. Mem., 1826:476. 6. Fessenden, 1828:129. 7. Kenrick, 1832:25. 8. Mag. Hort., 1:398. 1835. 9. Manning, 1838:47. 10. Ib., Mag. Hort., 7:49. 1841. 11. Downing, 1845:70. 12. Horticulturist, 2:544. 1848. 13. Thomas, 1849:136. fig. 14. Cole, 1849:103. 15. Phœnix, Horticulturist, 4:472. 1850. 16. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:11. 1851. fig. 17. Barry, 1851:279. 18. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1852. 19. Elliott, 1854:64. fig. 20. Hooper, 1857:12, 106, 108. 21. Gregg, 1857:35. 22. Warder, 1867:582. fig. 23. Downing, 1869:78. fig. 24. Fitz, 1872:143, 160. 25. Hogg, 1884:7. 26. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:298. 27. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:234. 28. Ib., 1892:250. 29. Budd-Hansen, 1903:182. fig.

SYNONYMS. AMERICAN PEARMAIN (19). American Pear-main (20). American Summer (26). AMERICAN SUMMER PEARMAIN (7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27). American Summer Pearmain (19, 29). EARLY SUMMER PEARMAIN (2, 5, 6). Early Summer Pear-main (7, 11, 14, 16, 19, 23, 25, of Coxe 13). SUMMER PEARMAIN (1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 18, 26, 28, 29). Summer Pearmain (14). Watkins Early (19, 20).

An amateur fruit which when perfect is beautiful and of mild, rich, excellent flavor (26). The tree being of slender, slow growth in the nursery is not a favorite with nurserymen and although it makes a large productive tree in the orchard it is not profitable as a market variety (22). It is desirable for family use because the fruit is suitable both for culinary and dessert purposes and the crop ripens in succession through a period of nearly two months. There is also another Summer Pearmain or English Summer Pearmain which ripens somewhat later.¹

Historical. Supposed to be of American origin. It is an old variety; first described in 1817 by Coxe.

FRUIT (11, 14, 22, 23). Fruit of medium size. Form variable, oblong or roundish inclined to conic, sometimes oblate. Stem medium to long. Cavity deep, acute, regular. Calyx large, open or closed. Basin medium size, abrupt, slightly wrinkled. Skin smooth, greenish-yellow, more or less covered with dull purplish-red, marbled, splashed and striped with brighter red. Dots minute. Core medium to small, roundish; cells closed. Seeds small, pointed. Flesh yellowish, very fine, tender, almost melting, juicy, aromatic, crisp, mild subacid, best. Season August and September.

¹ Ragan, U. S. B. P. I. Bul., 66:300. 1905.

— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)

Summer Pearmain. Size: medium. Form: oblate. Color: yellow-red. Quality: best. Use: family. Season: summer. Northern Division stations reporting: 5 (also reported in another division). Central Division stations reporting: 17 (also reported in another division). Southern Division stations reporting: 1 (also reported in another division).

— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)

American Summer Pearmain.

Watkin's Early, | Early Summer Pearmain.

This variety rarely ripens earlier than September, except at the South. In the nursery, the growth of the tree is slow, and, as an orchard fruit, it will not "pay." It cannot, however, be dispensed with for supplying home wants, ripening gradually, as it does, during the whole of September. The tree requires thinning out of small branches, but, as it fruits mostly on the ends of branches, should never be shortened back. It requires a deep, warm soil, well supplied with lime and potash, when it succeeds admirably in all sections.

Size, medium; Form, roundish oblong, sometimes angular; the form varies, and also size, as grown on top or bottom limbs, and in good or poor soil; color, red, streaked and dotted with grayish yellow; stem, medium, projecting about even with the surface; cavity, narrow; calyx, open, erect, slightly recurved; basin, deep, round, smooth; flesh, tender, sub-acid—best; core, small; seeds, ovate pyriform.

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

American Summer Pearmain.* (Early Summer Pearmain, of Coxe.) Medium in size, oblong, slightly inclining to truncate-conical; nearly covered with fine broken streaks and dots of red; stalk nearly one inch long; basin round, even, distinct; very tender, often bursts in falling; sub-acid, flavor fine. Continues to ripen for several weeks in late summer and early autumn. Needs good and rich cultivation. Growth rather slow. This is distinct from the English Summer or Autumn Pearmain, in its larger size, higher red, more oblong form, and superior quality. Fig. 352.

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

Summer Pearmain (American Summer Pearmain). — Of American origin; of slender, slow growth in nursery, in orchard large, round-headed, productive.

Fruit medium, regular, roundish oblong, slightly tapering, very regular; surface greenish yellow, covered with mixed and marbled red, obscurely splashed and streaked with brighter red on sunny side; dots russet and gray, many, obscure, minute; cavity regular, obtuse, some stellate russet; stem long, slender; basin shallow, smooth, abrupt, very regular; calyx nearly closed; segments flat convergent. Core closed, small, roundish, meeting, distant; cells elliptical, entire; tube conical; stamens basal; seeds plump, rounded, short; flesh yellow, very tender, pleasant, rich, aromatic, juicy, subacid, best. August and September.

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

American Summer Pearmain was received from Robert Nitschke, Birmingham, Michigan, in 1957. Fruit medium, oblong to round, often conical. Skin green-yellow with dull purplish-red flesh. Good cooking and dessert. Good amateur fruit. Ripens evenly, August to September. Reporting station: Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Pomology, Geneva, New York.

— H.H. Fisher (USDA ARS), A Survey of Apple Clones in the United States (1963)