Early Summer Pearmain
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Early Summer Pearmain
Origin / History
Supposed to be of American origin (Warder, Beach); Budd and Hansen state the American origin flatly. An old variety, first described in 1817 by Coxe, whose name for it was Early Summer Pearmain (Beach; Thomas, "of Coxe"). Beach's earliest reference, M'Mahon's American Gardener's Calendar of 1806, carries the name "Summer Pearmain." Later writers treated it chiefly as "American Summer Pearmain."
Downing finds it "quite different from the Summer Pearmain (of the English)" and thinks it probably a seedling raised from that apple. Thomas calls it distinct from the English Summer or Autumn Pearmain in its larger size, higher red, more oblong form, and superior quality, and he refers the bare name "Summer Pearmain" to Autumn Pearmain. Beach, citing Ragan (1905), records another Summer Pearmain, or English Summer Pearmain, which ripens somewhat later.
Downing calls it a rich, highly flavored fruit, "much esteemed where it is known." Warder calls it "this delicious apple" and "essentially a fruit for the amateur." Beach, citing Lyon (1890), calls it an amateur fruit which when perfect is beautiful and of mild, rich, excellent flavor. Planted for trial at the Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz, British Columbia, in spring 1894.
Tree
Moderately vigorous (Downing), a moderate grower (Agassiz), with slender branches; round-headed. Young shoots dull reddish-brown. Growth slow and slender in the nursery, and rather slow generally (Thomas). For this reason it is not a favorite with the propagators (Warder). In the orchard it makes a large, round-headed, productive tree.
Elliott says it fruits mostly on the ends of the branches. He directs that the small branches be thinned out but that the tree never be shortened back. It requires a deep, warm soil well supplied with lime and potash, "when it succeeds admirably in all sections" (Elliott). Thomas says it needs good and rich cultivation.
In Lowther's station table (1914) it is reported by 5 stations in the Northern Division, 17 in the Central Division, and 1 in the Southern Division, each also reported in another division.
Fruit
Size: Medium. Elliott says size varies as the fruit is grown on top or bottom limbs, and in good or poor soil.
Form: Variable, varying like size with position on the tree and with soil (Elliott). Oblong, roundish oblong, round, conic, and even oblate, regular or unequal; sometimes angular (Elliott). Widest at the crown and tapering slightly to the eye (Downing). Slightly inclining to truncate-conical (Thomas), slightly conical (Agassiz). Budd and Hansen call it roundish oblong, slightly tapering, very regular. Lowther's table gives oblate.
Stem: Medium to long. Budd and Hansen call it long and slender. Downing gives three-fourths of an inch, and Thomas nearly one inch. Downing has it pretty deeply inserted. Elliott says it projects about even with the surface.
Cavity: Regular. Rather deep and acute (Warder); narrow (Elliott). Budd and Hansen call it obtuse, with some stellate russet.
Calyx: Nearly closed (Warder, Budd and Hansen) to closed (Downing); Elliott calls it open, erect, slightly recurved. Eye rather large (Warder), deeply sunk (Downing). Segments recurved (Warder), short and erect (Downing), or flat and convergent (Budd and Hansen). Tube conical; stamens basal (Budd and Hansen).
Basin: Round, even, distinct (Thomas); regular to very regular; abrupt (Downing, Budd and Hansen). Elliott calls it deep, Warder medium, and Budd and Hansen shallow. Smooth (Elliott, Budd and Hansen); Downing calls it slightly corrugated.
Skin: Smooth. Greenish yellow to yellow, more or less covered with dull purplish red, mixed and marbled and made up of very short splashes. Over this run stripes, streaks, splashes, and spots of brighter red, distinct or obscure, the brighter red on the sunny side. Thomas has it nearly covered with fine broken streaks and dots of red. Elliott and Downing give red as the ground color. Elliott has it red streaked and dotted with grayish yellow. Downing has it red spotted with yellow in the shade, streaked with livelier red and yellow on the sunny side. Lowther's table gives yellow-red. Beautiful when perfect.
Dots: Minute. Many, obscure, russet and gray (Budd and Hansen).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh yellow; fine-grained, crisp, juicy; tender to exceedingly tender, almost melting. The fruit often bursts in falling from the tree (Downing, Thomas). Flavor subacid, very mild, aromatic, rich, and pleasant. Warder calls it "deliciously refreshing." Thomas calls the flavor "fine," and Agassiz says the fruit is "of high flavour." Every author who grades the quality rates it "best."
Core and seeds: Core small, roundish, closed; Downing alone calls it medium. Budd and Hansen describe it as meeting and distant, with cells elliptical and entire. Seeds small and pointed (Warder), ovate pyriform (Elliott), or plump, rounded, and short (Budd and Hansen).
Season
Summer and early autumn, August through September. The fruit ripens gradually and in succession over several weeks, through a period of nearly two months (Beach), from the tenth of August to the last of September (Downing). Elliott says it rarely ripens earlier than September except at the South, ripening gradually through the whole of that month. At Agassiz the season was August.
Uses
A dessert apple; family use. Beach calls it desirable for family use because the fruit suits both culinary and dessert purposes and the crop ripens in succession. Elliott says it "cannot, however, be dispensed with for supplying home wants." Warder judges it not profitable as a market variety, and Elliott says that as an orchard fruit it will not "pay."
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 8 period pomological works
- Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867) — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Beach, The Apples of New York Vol. 2 (1905) — listed as Summer Pearmain
- Budd & Hansen, Systematic Pomology (1914) — listed as Summer Pearmain
- Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903) — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900) — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865) — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914) — listed as Summer Pearmain
- Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817) — listed as Summer Pearmain
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 19 catalogs (1845–1932) from Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, Virginia, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845 — listed as Summer Pearmain
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- The Salem Nursery (John A. Francis , Proprietor), Salem , Virginia — 1897 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as American Summer
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Mountain Grove Nurseries (Tippin & Moore , Proprietors; Geo. T. Tippin, J. W. Tippin, J. C. Moore), Mountain Grove , Missouri — 1901 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901 — listed as American Summer
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1906 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1910 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1911 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1912 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Ballygreen Nurseries , Hanford , Washington — 1912 — listed as Summer Pearmain
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913 — listed as American Summer
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
- Stark Bro's Nurseries , Louisiana , Missouri — 1932 — listed as American Summer Pearmain
View original book sources (8)
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)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.
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)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.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)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.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)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.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Summer Pearmain", pp. 744–744]
Summer Pearmain. See Autumn Pearmain.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)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.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)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.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)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).
— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)Planted Spring 1894. Tree a moderate grower. Fruit of medium size, slightly conical. Skin yellow, streaked and spotted with red. Flesh yellow, tender, of high flavour. Season, August.