Souvenir du Congrès
Pear
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Souvenir du Congrès (Pear)
Origin / History
Souvenir du Congrès owes its origin to M. François Morel of Lyon-Vaise (Lyons), France. Morel grafted one of his pear trees with cions taken from several other varieties, including Bartlett, and from the tree thus grafted he obtained fruit, seeds of which he sowed in 1852. One of the resultant trees bore fruit in 1863, and the pears had so many earmarks of Bartlett that the variety was at once assumed to be a seedling of that variety. The tree continued to do well, and in due course the variety was judged to be worthy of dissemination by the Rhône Horticultural Society. M. Morel later dedicated the new pear to the Pomological Congress of France. The Herefordshire Pomona (1885) dates its production to about 1850. The variety was introduced in the United States about 1870, and the American Pomological Society placed it on its fruit-catalog list in 1875.
The variety is very similar to Clapp Favorite and Bartlett, and bears a great resemblance to Williams Bon Chrétien (Bartlett), though it is quite a distinct fruit. Hedrick (1921) considered it not as good as either Clapp Favorite or Bartlett in fruit-characters, but notes that the crop ripens between those two varieties, and that the fruits are larger and often handsomer.
Recorded in the pomological literature as follows: Pom. France 4: No. 162, Pl. 162. 1867; Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 34. 1875; Flor. & Pom. 37, Pl. 1875; Jour. Hort. N. S. 38:120, fig. 19. 1880; Hogg Fruit Man. 647. 1884; Cat. Cong. Pom. France 350, fig. 1906. Also recorded under the German name Andenken an den Congress in Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 237. 1881; Mathieu Nom. Pom. 168. 1889; Deut. Obstsorten 6: Pt. 16, Pl. 1910. Abbreviated to Souvenir in Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1897 and Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 179. 1914.
Tree
Tree medium in size and vigor (Hedrick), described by Downing as vigorous and fertile. Form upright-spreading, open-topped, pyramidal (Downing). Very productive; the crop must be thinned to prevent breaking of branches (Hedrick). The tree is hardy and bears well (Herefordshire Pomona). Remarkable for vigor, hardihood to cold, and healthfulness (Hedrick). The variety grows especially well in New York (Hedrick), and makes an excellent pyramid on the quince stock (Herefordshire Pomona). The fruits are said to be larger and of better quality when the tree is double-worked on the quince (Hedrick).
Branches zigzag, dull reddish-brown, heavily overspread with ash-gray scarf-skin, marked by small, raised lenticels. Branchlets thick, long, reddish-brown, overspread with dull gray mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, with few small, slightly raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 1½ in. long, 1 in. wide, roundish-oval, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin tipped with very few glands, finely serrate; petiole 1¼ in. long, glabrous, tinged with red.
Flower-buds short, conical or pointed, plump, free, arranged singly on very short spurs or branchlets. Flowers with a disagreeable odor, 1⅜ in. across, pinkish-white as the buds unfold, becoming whitish, in dense clusters of 6 to 8 buds; pedicels ¾ in. long, thick, heavily pubescent, light green.
Fruit
Size and Form
Large to very large. The Herefordshire Pomona gives dimensions of three inches and a half long and two inches and three quarters wide, and notes the fruit is often much larger. Hedrick gives 3⅞ in. long and 2⅝ in. wide, uniform in size and shape. Downing describes it as large to very large, resembling the Bartlett in form.
Form oblong-acute-pyriform (Hedrick); oblong, obovate (Herefordshire Pomona). Hedrick describes the fruit as symmetrical with unequal sides; the Herefordshire Pomona describes the outline as uneven and undulating. A very handsome pear (Herefordshire Pomona).
Stem
About 1 in. long, very stout (Herefordshire Pomona); thick, curved (Hedrick).
Cavity
The Herefordshire Pomona describes the stalk as inserted either in a pretty deep cavity or on the end of the fruit in a slight cavity. Hedrick describes the cavity as obtuse, almost lacking, very shallow, narrow, russeted, slightly furrowed, often with the stem inserted beneath a pronounced irregular lip.
Calyx
Large and open, deeply set (Herefordshire Pomona). Calyx open; lobes separated at the base, narrow, acute (Hedrick).
Basin
Wide, obtuse and flaring, slightly furrowed, symmetrical, smooth except for the thick russet covering (Hedrick).
Skin
The Herefordshire Pomona describes the skin as considerably covered with smooth cinnamon-coloured russet, with here and there patches of the yellow ground colour exposed; on the side next the sun, there are streaks of bright crimson and a warm glow of russet. Downing describes the skin as smooth, of a handsome yellow at maturity, washed with bright red or carmine on the side exposed to the sun. Hedrick: color yellow, with a reddish blush on the exposed cheek, covered with nettings of russet and yellow patches; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous.
Flesh and Flavor
Yellowish white to white with a faint tinge of yellow (Herefordshire Pomona; Hedrick). Tender, very juicy and melting (Herefordshire Pomona); firm, granular, tender, very juicy (Hedrick). Flavor rich and vinous with a musky aroma (Herefordshire Pomona); sweet, with a musky flavor (Hedrick); much like the Bartlett, having the musky flavor though in a less degree (Downing). Quality good (Hedrick).
Core and Seeds
Core closed, with clasping core-lines. Calyx-tube short, wide, conical. Seeds large, wide, plump, acute (Hedrick).
Season
Season September (Hedrick; Downing). Downing notes maturity commences in August and continues in September. The Herefordshire Pomona gives a broader window of end of August to beginning of November.
Uses
An excellent dessert pear. Grows well as a pyramid on quince stock; double-working on quince is said to improve fruit size and quality. Well suited to home orchards and fruit-collections. Crop must be thinned in productive years to prevent branch breakage.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 28 catalogs (1884–1917) from California, England, Missouri, Oregon, Washington
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884
- Fancher Creek Nursery , Fresno , California — 1886
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888
- California Nursery Co. , Niles , California — 1889
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1889
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891
- Puyallup & Yakima Nurseries , Puyallup, Washington (Lock Box 191) and North Yakima , Washington — 1892
- Oregon Wholesale Nurseries , Salem , Oregon — 1893
- Sherwood Hall Nursery Co. , Timothy Hopkins (Menlo Park Nurseries), San Francisco / Menlo Park , California — 1893
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1894
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897
- Kelway & Son , Langport, Somerset , England — 1897
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- The Dalles Nurseries , The Dalles , Oregon — 1901
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Mountain Grove Nurseries (Tippin & Moore , Proprietors; Geo. T. Tippin, J. W. Tippin, J. C. Moore), Mountain Grove , Missouri — 1901
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Ballygreen Nurseries , Hanford , Washington — 1912
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Thomas Rivers & Son , Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire , England — 1913
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917
View original book sources (3)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)
- SOUVENIR DU CONGRÈS.
This Pear is said to have been produced by M. Morel, of Lyon-Vaise, in France, about the middle of the present century (1850).
Description.—Fruit: large, three inches and a half long, two inches and three quarters wide, and often much larger ; oblong, obovate, uneven and undulating in its outline. Skin: considerably covered with smooth cinnamon-coloured russet, with, here and there, patches of the yellow ground colour exposed ; on the side next the sun, there are streaks of bright crimson, and a warm glow of russet. Eye : large and open, deeply set. Stalk : an inch or more long, very stout, inserted either in a pretty deep cavity, or on the end of the fruit, in a slight cavity. Flesh : yellowish white, tender, very juicy and melting, with a rich, vinous flavour and a musky aroma.
A very handsome and excellent Pear ; in season from the end of August to the beginning of November. It has a great resemblance to Williams Bon Chrétien, but is quite a distinct fruit.
The tree is hardy and bears well, making an excellent pyramid on the quince stock.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Souvenir du Congress.
This Pear was originated by M. Morel, of Lyon-Vaise, France, and by him dedicated to the Pomological Congress of France. Tree vigorous and fertile, pyramidal in form.
Fruit large to very large, resembling in form the Bartlett. Skin smooth, of a handsome yellow at maturity, washed with bright red, or carmine, on the side exposed to the sun. Flesh much like the Bartlett, having the musky flavor, though in a less degree. Its maturity commences in August and continues in September. (Revue Horticole.)
— U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York (1921)SOUVENIR DU CONGRÈS
- Pom. France 4: No. 162, Pl. 162. 1867. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 34. 1875. 3. Flor. & Pom. 37, Pl. 1875. 4. Jour. Hort. N. S. 38:120, fig. 19. 1880. 5. Hogg Fruit Man. 647. 1884. 6. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 350, fig. 1906.
Andenken an den Congress. 7. Oberdieck Obst-Sort. 237. 1881. 8. Mathieu Nom. Pom. 168. 1889. 9. Deut. Obstsorten 6: Pt. 16, Pl. 1910.
Souvenir. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 24. 1897. 11. Ont. Dept. Agr. Fr. Ont. 179. 1914.
Very similar to Clapp Favorite and Bartlett, and not as good as either in fruit-characters, Souvenir du Congrès hardly merits a place in American pomology. The crop ripens between those of the two sorts with which it has been compared, and the fruits are larger and often handsomer. The fruits are said to be larger and of better quality when the tree is double-worked on the quince. The tree is remarkable for vigor, hardihood to cold, and healthfulness; and bears so abundantly that the crop must be thinned to prevent breaking of branches. The variety grows especially well in New York, and is deserving a place in home orchards and in fruit-collections. The accompanying color-plate illustrates the size, shape, and color of this pear remarkably well.
Souvenir du Congrès owes its origin to M. François Morel, Lyons, France. M. Morel grafted one of his pear-trees with cions taken from several other varieties, including Bartlett, and from the tree thus grafted he obtained fruit, seeds of which he sowed in 1852. One of the resultant trees bore fruit in 1863, and the pears had so many earmarks of Bartlett that it was at once assumed to be a seedling of that variety. The tree continued to do well and in due course the variety was judged to be worthy of dissemination by the Rhône Horticultural Society. Later, M. Morel dedicated the new pear to the Pomological Congress of France. The variety was introduced in the United States about 1870. The American Pomological Society placed Souvenir du Congrès on its fruit-catalog list in 1875.
Tree medium in size and vigor, upright-spreading, open-topped, very productive; branches zigzag, dull reddish-brown, heavily overspread with ash-gray scarf-skin, marked by small, raised lenticels; branchlets thick, long, reddish-brown, overspread with dull gray mingled with green, smooth, glabrous, with few small, slightly raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds small, short, pointed, plump, free. Leaves 1½ in. long, 1 in. wide, roundish-oval, leathery; apex abruptly pointed; margin tipped with very few glands, finely serrate; petiole 1¼ in. long, glabrous, tinged with red. Flower-buds short, conical or pointed, plump, free, arranged singly on very short spurs or branchlets; flowers with a disagreeable odor, 1⅜ in. across, pinkish-white as the buds unfold, becoming whitish, in dense clusters, 6 to 8 buds in a cluster; pedicels ¾ in. long, thick, heavily pubescent, light green.
Fruit ripe in September; large, 3⅞ in. long, 2⅝ in. wide, uniform in size and shape, oblong-acute-pyriform, symmetrical, with unequal sides; stem 1 in. long, short, thick, curved; cavity obtuse, almost lacking, very shallow, narrow, russeted, slightly furrowed, often with the stem inserted beneath a pronounced irregular lip; calyx open; lobes separated at the base, narrow, acute; basin wide, obtuse and flaring, slightly furrowed, symmetrical, smooth except for the thick, russet covering; color yellow, with a reddish blush on the exposed cheek, covered with nettings of russet and yellow patches; dots numerous, small, russet, conspicuous; flesh white, with a faint tinge of yellow, firm, granular, tender, very juicy, sweet, with a musky flavor; quality good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, plump, acute.