The Heirloom Orchardist

The Bartlett Pear; A Brief History of a Classic Fruit

Ahhhh, the classics.  It's hard to improve on perfection.  One hundred years after it originated in England, the Bartlett Pear was still being recognized as a popular commercial fruit.  Here's one such description from the October 1867 issue of the NEW ENGLAND FARMER, published in Boston:

"THE BARTLETT PEAR.   Notwithstanding the great variety of new fruits which have been introduced of late, and highly extolled for their superior excellence, the Baldwin Apple, Hovey's Strawberry, and the Bartlett Pear are still favorites in the Boston market.  The Bartlett Pear, as it succeeds well when dwarfed by being grafted on quince, and thus comes into bearing much sooner than when grown as a standard, is a very desirable fruit.  Taking into consideration its rapidity of growth, hardiness, size, form, flavor, and market value, the continued popularity of the Bartlett Pear is not at all surprising.

Mr. Downing says this fruit originated in Berkshire, England, about 1770, and was there known as the Williams.  It was imported into this country in 1799 by Enoch Bartlett, Esq., of Dorchester, Mass., from whom it received its American name.

Mr. Cole says it is liable to be affected by hard winters, and that more hardy native kinds are better adapted to the northern part of New England.  Fruit of large size, irregularly pyramidal.  Skin very thin and smooth, clear yellow, (with a soft blush on the sunny side, in exposed specimens,) rarely marked with a faint russet.  Stalk one to one and a half inches long, stout, inserted in a shallow, flat cavity.  Calyx open, set in a very shallow, obscurely plaited basin.  Flesh white, and exceedingly fine-grained and buttery; it is full of juice, sweet, with a highly perfumed, vinous flavor.  (In damp or unfavorable soils, it is sometimes slightly acid.) Ripens from the last of August to the middle and last of September."

Clever guy, that Enoch Barlett.  He stole Mr. William's Pear, and went down in history.  I don't know...should I consider that to be yankee ingenuity? Or something else?

Frugal 'n' Handy Farm Devices

I was recently inspired by the Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op to search through my personal library of old books and find some old frugality tips for the Heirloom Orchardist.  Strangely, although the books are full of ideas that you and I would consider frugal, they weren't referenced that way.  These how-to tips were presented more as tips for practical living, than frugal living.

I'm sure if I looked further, I'd find words preaching the virtues of a "thrifty, god-fearing, frugal life."  Something like that. But to the Heirloom Orchardist, perhaps the phrase "frugal living" sounded a bit silly.  Farm life is frugal life, isn't it?  Certainly, to the 18th and 19th century farmer it was.  You were either frugal or you were wasteful.  There was no in-between.

My books are full of ideas on how to properly manage the farm.  That includes frugality. I found numerous inquiries on how to re-use various cast-offs that accumulated around the homestead.  Does scrap leather make a good manure?  How can one scatter spoiled snuff as an insecticide?  To what useful purpose may I apply burnt bones?  And what can I do with all those darn barrels that keep piling up?

That one's easy.  My book of Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them (by Rolfe Cobleigh, 1912) flatly states:  "Barrels, barrel hoops and barrel staves may be worked into many useful things upon a farm."

Rolfe gives plenty of ideas.  There's the Chicken Coop, the Barrel Hoop Trellis, or (my favorite) the Weeding Stool. It uses barrel staves to keep the legs of an old stool from sinking into the earth under the weight of an overbearing Heirloom Orchardist.

But I can top all of those.  Here's something I assembled from cast-offs just a few weeks ago. I found some old lumber in my garage, and grabbed an old cedar window shutter from the neighbor's trash (I know that's cliche'. But I really did.)

  Then I took the wheels and pull-handle off the kids' old red wagon,

and made this:

Hey Rolfe!  Add that to your list of Handy Farm Devices!

Tree Bark Protection & Farmer Thoughtless

I stumbled upon this silly anecdote in my Saturday, August 13, 1853 issue of the New England Farmer.  It was printed in Boston, when horses were as common as cars.  While we are on the subject of tree protection, I thought I’d re-publish it here:

"People often set fine trees about their buildings or gates, and leave them unprotected by stakes or boxes.  By-and-by neighbor Cleverman rides up with his bay colt, full of fire and mettle, in order to pass the compliments of the evening, or perhaps, purchase the present year's crop of onions.  He looks for a post to which he may tie his champing steed, but there is none!  Nothing presents itself but a beautiful rock maple, which, surprising as it may seem, has been growing by the side of the gate for four years, and has just formed a head of perfect grace and symmetry.  So Bucephalus is hitched to the maple, while his owner chaffers with farmer Thoughtless about the onions.  The two friends close the bargain, and then sit long in pleasant confab about the prospect of the crops, the cattle market, and the construction of the new road to Boston.  But as there must be an end to all things, so there was to this interesting conversation; the moon had gone down, and the shadows of night covered the earth when Cleverman unhitched his impatient steed; and went clattering over the bridge.

From his chamber window, in the gray dawn of the next morning farmer Thoughtless saw the skinned and tattered rock maple poisoned by neighbor Cleverman's horse.

Moral:  If a man sets trees, hedges, gates and makes fine fences, he must expect to have them trampled down or torn up by his neighbor’s horses unless he accommodates the trees with armor and provides the horses with good substantial posts, with holes, rings or hooks, to tie the horses to."

In the 19th century, young street trees were commonly protected with what were known as "Tree Boxes."  At first, they looked exactly as you'd expect: a tall wooden box built around the slim tree trunk.  They were often tapered, with a base that was slightly larger than the top. As the century matured, more durable structures became available, manufactured with a steel mesh.  Although these were circular in shape, the term "tree box" continued for a while.

Today, we can easily protect our trees with tree bark protectors.  Affordable, lightweight, and of course... thoughtful.