Rossney
Pear
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Rossney
Origin/History
Rossney is a pear raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, by William Woodberry from a mixed lot of Winter Nelis and Bartlett seed planted for stocks around 1881. It was introduced by the Pioneer Nurseries Company, Salt Lake City, in 1898. References include Pioneer Nurs. Co. Cat. fig. 1898 and U.S.D.A. Yearbook 402, Pl. LII, 1904.
Tree
Hardiness is reported to be about like Bartlett (Budd & Hansen). Stark Bros. notes that Rossney seems to blight less than most pear varieties, which is cited as one of its strong points. The fruit hangs well upon the tree (Stark Bros.).
Fruit
Size: Medium to large.
Form: Oval-pyriform. Hedrick further describes the fruit as somewhat angular and ribbed towards the apex.
Stem: Hedrick describes the stem as rather long and moderately stout. Budd & Hansen describe it as short and quite stout, inserted at the top of the neck into a slight cavity. These two accounts conflict on stem length.
Cavity: Slight, at the top of the neck (Budd & Hansen). Not described in Hedrick or Stark Bros.
Calyx: Closed (Hedrick). Not described in the other sources.
Basin: Medium, ridged (Budd & Hansen). Not described in the other sources.
Skin: The ground color is described as golden yellow (Hedrick), pale yellow (Stark Bros.), or creamy yellow (Budd & Hansen). All three sources agree on a red or scarlet blush: Hedrick specifies "blushed with scarlet" and notes the skin is thinly overspread with a bluish-white bloom; Stark Bros. describes "a red cheek"; Budd & Hansen describe a crimson blush. Dots are numerous, minute, and russet (Hedrick).
Flesh and Flavor: Flesh is yellowish (Hedrick) or yellow (Budd & Hansen), fine-grained (Budd & Hansen), buttery (Hedrick), melting (Budd & Hansen), and juicy (both Hedrick and Budd & Hansen). On flavor, Hedrick describes the flesh as subacid, while Budd & Hansen describe it as sweet — these two accounts conflict. Quality is rated "good" by Hedrick and "very good" by Budd & Hansen. Stark Bros. independently characterizes it as having "good quality."
Core/Seeds: Not described in any source.
Season
Hedrick places Rossney ten days later than Bartlett. Budd & Hansen place it two weeks later than Bartlett. Stark Bros. gives a calendar date of approximately October 1st to November 1st.
Uses
Not described in any source beyond the implied fresh-eating quality evaluation and its commercial suitability as noted by Stark Bros.
Other
Stark Bros. recommend Rossney when "one of the newer pears is needed," highlighting its combination of productivity, blight resistance, fruit-retention on the tree, and good quality. The variety is of Utah origin and represents a seedling of mixed Bartlett and Winter Nelis parentage.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 17 catalogs (1901–1920) from Illinois, Nebraska, Oregon, Washington
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- Milton Nursery Co. (A. Miller & Sons , Proprietors), Milton , Oregon — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1910
- Galbraith Nursery Co. (DeWitt Hansen , Pres.-Mgr.), Fairbury , Nebraska — 1911
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1911
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Vineland Nurseries Company , Clarkston , Washington — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Van Holderbeke Nursery Co. , Incorporated, Spokane, Washington (nurseries at Otis Orchards WA, Pasadena WA, Kennewick WA) — 1913
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1914
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1915
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1916
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1917
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish, Washington (on Yakima Indian Reservation) - [undated; companion to the 1912 "Sixth Edition" descriptive catalogue; same cover design and incorporated 1903 date; dated as c.1912]
View original book sources (3)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)Rossney.
i. Pioneer Nurs. Co. Cat. fig. 1898. 2. U. S. D. A. Yearbook 402, Pl. LII. 1904.
Raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, from a mixed lot of Winter Nelis and Bartlett seed planted for stocks by William Woodberry about 1881, and introduced by the Pioneer Nurseries Company, Salt Lake City, in 1898. Fruit medium to large, oval-pyriform, somewhat angular and ribbed towards the apex, golden yellow, blushed with scarlet and thinly overspread with a bluish-white bloom; dots numerous, minute, russet; stem rather long, moderately stout; calyx closed; flesh yellowish, buttery, juicy, subacid; good; ten days later than Bartlett.
— Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co., Stark Bros. Year Book (1910) (1910)A beautiful, large, pale yellow pear with a red cheek, and having good quality and being productive. The fruit hangs well upon the tree. Ripens about October 1st to November 1st. One of the strong points in its favor is that it seems to blight less than most varieties and when one of the newer pear is needed, Rossney is a good choice.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Rossney. — Medium to large, oval, pyriform; color creamy yellow with crimson blush; stem short, quite stout, inserted at top of neck into slight cavity; basin medium, ridged. Flesh yellow, fine-grained, melting, juicy, sweet, very good. Season, two weeks later than Bartlett and about like it in hardiness of tree. Utah.