Margaret

Margaret

Origin/History

Margaret is a pear raised from seed by Christopher Wiegel, a German nurseryman of Cleveland, Ohio. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Wiegel planted seeds he believed to have come from a Seckel pear. Of the resulting trees, he selected two for further trial "because of their early coming into bearing, their upright, vigorous habits of growth, profuse bearing, and good quality of fruit." In 1866, Wiegel named one of these selections Mary, but later changed the name to Margaret. The variety was first described in the Horticulturist in 1866 and was reported to the American Pomological Society in 1869.

Despite its defects of fruit and tree — including tenderness to cold, susceptibility to blight, and short life — the variety was at one time a favorite and was still rather commonly planted into the early twentieth century. Hedrick (1921) notes that better summer pears can be found for New York and for almost every part of the country.

Tree

Growth habit and size: Downing describes the tree as a vigorous, upright grower. Hedrick gives it as medium in size, vigorous, but spreading and somewhat drooping, with an open top. (The two sources conflict on habit: Downing says upright; Hedrick says spreading and drooping.)

Trunk and bark: Trunk shaggy (Hedrick). Branches brown mingled with much red, overspread with thin gray scarf-skin, marked by numerous lenticels (Hedrick).

Branchlets: Slender, long, with long internodes, light reddish-brown, streaked with ash-gray scarf-skin, glossy, smooth, glabrous except on the newer growth, with numerous small, roundish, raised, conspicuous lenticels (Hedrick). Downing notes the young wood is dull reddish.

Buds: Leaf-buds small, very short, pointed, appressed. Flower-buds small, short, conical, pointed, free, singly on short spurs (Hedrick).

Leaves: 3 in. long, 1½ in. wide, thin; margin tipped with few pinkish glands, finely serrate; petiole 1⅛ in. long, green; stipules of medium size (Hedrick).

Flowers: Showy, 1⅛ in. long, large, in dense clusters of 6 or 8 buds; pedicels 1¼ in. long, thick, pubescent (Hedrick).

Bearing: Productive, early bearer (both sources). Hedrick notes the trees are tender to cold, blight badly, and are short-lived, seldom attaining full size.

Fruit

Size: Downing gives the fruit as small to medium. Hedrick gives it as medium, 3 in. long, 2½ in. wide. (Minor conflict: Downing emphasizes the small end of the range; Hedrick calls it simply medium.)

Form: Oblong obovate (Downing); oblong-obovate-pyriform, irregular (Hedrick).

Stem: Downing describes the stalk as medium. Hedrick gives the stem as 1½ in. long, thick, and curved.

Cavity: Downing states the stalk is inserted without depression. Hedrick contradicts this, describing the cavity as acuminate, deep, narrow, russeted, furrowed and compressed, often with a pronounced lip. (Direct conflict between sources.)

Calyx: Large, open; segments (lobes) long, reflexed (Downing). Hedrick adds: lobes separated at the base, broad, acute, reflexed.

Basin: Deep, abrupt, furrowed, often compressed (Hedrick). Not described in Downing beyond the calyx.

Skin: Thin, tender, smooth (Hedrick). Color dull greenish-yellow, often with a deep but dull reddish-brown blush and occasional patches of russet (Hedrick); Downing describes it as yellow, mostly overspread with deep dull red. Dots numerous, small, green or russet, obscure (Hedrick); Downing calls them small russet dots.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white (Downing); Hedrick describes it as fine under the skin but granular and gritty near the center. Tender, buttery, very juicy (Hedrick). Flavor vinous and sweet (Downing); Hedrick qualifies this as faintly vinous and slightly aromatic. Quality good (both sources).

Core and seeds: Core large, closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube long, wide, funnel-shaped; seeds large, wide, plump, obtuse or acute (Hedrick).

Season

Fruit ripens in August (Downing). Hedrick is more precise: late August and early September.

Uses

Not described in source.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Hedrick's assessment (1921): "The fruits of Margaret are early and attractive in color and shape. This is about all that can be said for them, as they run small in size, and in neither flesh nor flavor can they compete with the product of several other varieties of the same season. The trees are hardly more desirable than the fruits, since they are tender to cold, blight badly, and are short-lived, seldom attaining full size."