Nick Routledge in a post over a year ago mentioned he had a Pound Pear that he got from Corvalis (I assume the USDA germplasm bank). I have been trying for over a year to obtain several of these trees since they were mentioned in Hobby Farm magazine. There doesn't seem to be any nurseries in the US that have these trees. Cummins Nursery (mentioned in the article) doesn't appear to carry them. Is there a way to get them in this country without going through the USDA site and grafting them myself? I have been attempting to contact several nurseries in the UK, where the tree seems readily available, but they don't seem very willing to export.
The article you mentioned has this contact. In my searching I came across ths same place in reference to the pear you are looking for.
Southmeadow Fruit Gardens
http://www.southmeadowfruitgardens.com
269-422-2411
I noticed that many people seem to have problems with them and their website seems to not work. But you might want to call them and see. This is just FYI. I know nothing about the place.
If you deal with Southmeadow, KEEP ALL RECORDS. I bought from Mr. Grootendorst years ago and six months later he made a nasty call demanding payment. I had a canceled check to verify it, so he backed off. I've since run into several other customers who had the same experience.
I have a pear I believe, but can't prove, is Pound. Found an old tree in Salem, Oregon. That tree is gone. My graft is vigorous, but not productive. Keeps like a rock, though
Think I saw something recently that said Southmeadow had been bought by Gurney's Seed & Nut; prior to that I saw plenty of references that they've been defunct for several years now!
I did find this mention in an article here:
http://www.hobbyfarms.com/crops-and-gar ... pears.aspx
"At the other end of the scale is a late-season monster: the Pound pear.
Also known as Belle Angevine and Uvedale’s St. Germaine, it originated sometime prior to 1690 and may date to Roman days. This pear is enormous!
Most weigh two or more pounds and gigantic four-pound pears are fairly common. In olde England, Pound pears were baked whole, wrapped in pastry crusts. The keyword is baked; these tough, coarse pears aren’t meant to be eaten out of hand. However, cooking makes their firm, red flesh yummy and smooth. Pound pears keep in storage until spring, making them top-of-the-line winter fare."
So 2 more names to try looking for! Might make it easier to find, or just more confusing?! I'm pretty sure that importing a plant is fairly difficult, since they have to be quarantined; best to try to avoid that unless you really want a memorable tree.........
Oops! Guess I wasn't reading close enough earlier in your post:) You might try just calling up Joe Postman a the NCGR and asking him, he's the pear curator and might at least have an idea on who in the US might be propagating them - and maybe also request some scionwood too; since I think they want some lead time on that and even if you don't end up using it, you'd have the option to - otherwise it might be another year! He gave me some apple scionwood a couple of years ago from his home orchard when I couldn't find it anywhere else locally.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main. ... 3-58-15-00
Don't send any money to Southmeadow until you explore this link: or this one: http://tinyurl.com/ygyad9k
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