Fox
PearFox
Origin / History
Fox is a pear, one of many seedlings originated by Bernard S. Fox, a pioneer nurseryman and fruit-grower of San José, California, who gave much time to improving the pear through seedlings. Most of these seedlings were raised from seed of Belle Lucrative, and Fox is among them. The exact date of origin cannot be determined but is assumed to have been in the early seventies; Hedrick's Cyclopedia gives about 1870. Thomas calls it "a Fox seedling from California."
The variety was described under the name "B. S. Fox" in Downing's second appendix of 1876 and in the American Pomological Society report of 1877, with a figure. It also appeared under that name in the Gardeners' Monthly in 1880 and in the Missouri Horticultural Society report of 1883. It was entered as Fox in Budd and Hansen's manual of 1903 and in Ragan's Nomenclature of the Pear of 1908.
Hedrick gives an account of the originator. Fox was an Irishman who came to America in 1848 and began work in the garden and nurseries of Hovey and Company of Boston. A few years later he emigrated with the gold-seekers to California, where he shortly settled at San José as a nurseryman and fruit-grower. He came to possess a considerable amount of land, whose increasing value made him a very wealthy man. He took pleasure in being a patron of horticulture as well as a worker in its several fields. During his thirty years in the state he was noted for energy and enterprise in every industry that had to do with fruit-growing.
Early in his San José career Fox took up the production of new pears from seed. He was "a most conscientious selecter," only the best survived in his orchards, and he was extremely anxious not to cumber the list of pears with worthless varieties. Out of a great number of seedlings only three finally received his approval: P. Barry, Fox, and Colonel Wilder. Hedrick says all three have high places in the pear lists of California and the United States and "do honor to an enthusiastic and painstaking breeder of pears." For many years before his death in July 1880, Fox was Vice President of the American Pomological Society for California. Hedrick calls him one of the first fruit-growers to bring fame to California and adds that "Californians are justly proud of him."
Downing says the variety "is thought by some to be one of Fox's best late fall varieties," and Hedrick reports that it is considered one of the best of Fox's seedlings. Budd and Hansen describe it as a new variety coming into notice in western New York. Hedrick, writing later, says Fox "seems to have failed in the pear-growing regions of America, in spite of its having several excellent characters in both fruit and tree."
Tree
Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, round-topped, moderately productive. Trunk slender. Branches stocky, smooth, greenish-brown overspread with grayish scarf-skin. Branchlets thick, short, with short internodes, zigzag, glabrous, sprinkled with small, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds long, obtuse, pointed, free. Leaves 2½ inches long and 1½ inches wide (1¼ inches in Hedrick's Cyclopedia), thick; apex abruptly pointed; margin nearly entire to finely serrate. Flower-buds conical, pointed, free; flowers open early.
Hedrick judges the trees "but mediocre in the prime characters of a good orchard plant."
Fruit
Size: Large; 3½ inches long by 2½ inches wide (Hedrick).
Form: Oblong, obtuse-pyriform to obtuse obovate; oblong-obovate-pyriform (Hedrick).
Stem: Stout to very thick, curved, inserted obliquely. Downing calls the stalk rather short and inserted by a lip; Hedrick gives it as 1½ inches long.
Cavity: A slight depression to very shallow or lacking, the flesh folded up around the base of the stem.
Calyx: Variable in size. Downing calls it small and open; Hedrick calls it closed or slightly open. Lobes much separated at the base, short, broad, acute. Calyx-tube short, wide (Hedrick).
Basin: Uneven, furrowed and compressed. Downing calls it medium; Hedrick calls it shallow, narrow, very small.
Skin: Thick, granular, tough, rough, roughened by the russet dots. Ground clear bright yellow (Downing) to russet-yellow, nearly or almost entirely overspread with russet, which Downing calls rich golden. Hedrick says it is often blushed russet-red on the side next to the sun, and that the rough, russet skin detracts greatly from the fruit's appearance.
Dots: Numerous, conspicuous, russet (Hedrick).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white or whitish, fine-grained, granular near the core, melting, juicy to very juicy. Flavor sweet mingled with a brisk, vinous flavor, rich, richly aromatic, with "a pleasant aromatic smell and taste that at once place the quality very high" (Hedrick).
Quality very good (Thomas, Hedrick); Downing calls it "excellent," and Hedrick writes that "when the skin is removed, however, a better late fall pear cannot be found." Budd and Hansen give the quality as "said to be about like that of Anjou."
Core and seeds: Core large, closed. Seeds wide, plump, acute (Hedrick).
Season
A late fall pear, ripening October to November.
Uses
Hedrick finds the fruits "not quite attractive enough to sell on the markets or to grace the table of the amateur." He also says the trees' mediocre orchard characters "condemn the variety for any purpose other than the collector's plantation."
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 2 catalogs (1894–1900) from Oregon
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894 — listed as B. S. Fox
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as B. S. Fox
View original book sources (5)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)B. S. Fox.
This is thought by some to be one of Fox's best late fall varieties.
Fruit large, oblong, obtuse pyriform; skin clear bright yellow, nearly covered with rich golden russet; stalk rather short, stout, inserted obliquely by a lip in a slight depression; calyx small, open; basin medium, uneven; flesh whitish, fine, juicy, melting, sweet, rich and excellent.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)B. S. Fox. Large, obtuse obovate, russet yellow; flesh fine-grained, very juicy, vinous. A Fox seedling from California. Very good.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Fox (B. S. Fox). — Large, russeted with yellow. Flesh fine-grained, juicy, vinous; quality said to be about like that of Anjou. Season, October. A new variety, coming into notice in western New York.
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)FOX
- Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:245. 1903. 2. Ragan Nom. Pear, B. P. I. Bul. 126:123. 1908.
B. S. Fox. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 2nd App. 154. 1876. 4. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 42, fig. 1877. 5. Gard. Mon. 22:369. 1880. 6. Mo. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 170. 1883.
Fox seems to have failed in the pear-growing regions of America, in spite of its having several excellent characters in both fruit and tree. The fruits are not quite attractive enough to sell on the markets or to grace the table of the amateur, their rough, russet skins detracting greatly from their appearance. When the skin is removed, however, a better late fall pear cannot be found. The flesh is white, fine in texture, very juicy, melting, and has a brisk, vinous flavor and a pleasant aromatic smell and taste that at once place the quality very high. The trees are but mediocre in the prime characters of a good orchard plant, and condemn the variety for any purpose other than the collector's plantation.
Fox is one of many seedlings originated by B. S. Fox,¹ San José, California. Most of these seedlings were raised from seed of Belle Lucrative
¹ Bernard S. Fox was a pioneer nurseryman and fruit-grower in California who gave much time to improving the pear through seedlings. During his stay of thirty years in the state of his adoption he was noted for his energy and enterprise in every industry that had to do with fruit-growing. Fox was an Irishman who came to America in 1848 and began work in the garden and nurseries of Hovey and Company of Boston. A few years later he emigrated with the gold-seekers to California where, shortly, he settled at San José as a nurseryman and fruit-grower. Eventually he became possessed of a considerable amount of land the increasing value of which made him a very wealthy man, and he took pleasure in being a patron of horticulture as well as a worker in its several fields. Early in his career at San José his interest was aroused in the production of new pears from seed. He was a most conscientious selecter and only the best survived in his orchards. He was at all times extremely anxious not to cumber the list of pears with worthless varieties. Out of a great number of seedlings, only three finally received his approval, P. Barry, Fox, and Colonel Wilder. All have high places in the pear lists of California and the United States, and do honor to an enthusiastic and painstaking breeder of pears. For many years before his death in July, 1880, he was the Vice President of the American Pomological Society for California. Bernard S. Fox was one of the first fruit-growers to bring fame to California, and Californians are justly proud of him.
and Fox is among this number. The exact date of origin cannot be determined, but it is assumed to have been in the early seventies. The variety is considered to be one of the best of Fox's seedlings.
Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, round-topped, moderately productive; trunk slender; branches stocky, smooth, greenish-brown overspread with grayish scarf-skin; branchlets thick, short, with short internodes, zigzag, glabrous, sprinkled with small, raised lenticels. Leaf-buds long, obtuse, pointed, free. Leaves 2½ in. long, 1½ in. wide, thick; apex abruptly pointed; margin nearly entire to finely serrate. Flower-buds conical, pointed, free; flowers open early.
Fruit ripens October to November; large, 3½ in. long, 2½ in. wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform; stem 1½ in. long, very thick, curved, obliquely set; cavity very shallow or lacking, the flesh folded up around the base of the stem; calyx closed or slightly open, variable in size; lobes much separated at the base, short, broad, acute; basin shallow, narrow, very small, furrowed and compressed; skin thick, granular, tough, roughened by the russet dots; color russet-yellow, often with a russet-red blush on the side next to the sun, almost entirely overspread with russet; dots numerous, conspicuous, russet; flesh white, granular near the core, melting, very juicy, sweet mingled with a brisk, vinous flavor, richly aromatic; quality very good. Core large, closed; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds wide, plump, acute.
— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)FOX.
Fox seems to have failed in the pear-growing regions of America, in spite of its having some excellent characters in both fruit and tree. The fruits are not quite attractive enough to sell on the markets or to grace the table of the amateur, their rough, russet skins detracting greatly from their appearance. When the skin is removed, however, a better late fall pear cannot be found. The flesh is white, fine in texture, very juicy, melting, and has a brisk, vinous flavor and a pleasant aromatic smell and taste that at once place the quality very high. The trees are but mediocre in the prime characters of a good orchard plant. The variety is condemned for any purpose other than the collector's plantation.
Fox is one of many seedlings originated by B. S. Fox, San Jose, California, about 1870.
Tree upright-spreading, round-topped, moderately productive; trunk slender; branches stocky, smooth, greenish-brown. Leaves 2½ inches long, 1¼ inches wide, thick; apex abruptly pointed; margin nearly entire to finely serrate. Flowers open early.
Fruit ripe October-November; large, 3½ inches long, 2½ inches wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform; stem 1½ inches long, very thick, curved, obliquely set; cavity very shallow or lacking, the flesh folded up around the base of the stem; calyx closed or slightly open, variable in size; lobes much separated at the base, short, broad, acute; basin shallow, narrow, very small, furrowed and compressed; skin thick, granular, tough, roughened by the russet dots; color russet-yellow, often with a russet-red blush on the side next to the sun, overspread with russet; dots numerous, conspicuous, russet; flesh white, granular near the core, melting, very juicy, sweet, mingled with a brisk vinous flavor, richly aromatic; quality very good; core large, closed; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds wide, plump, acute.