Re: Inedible Pear
<The fruit is more pear shaped than apple
like, yellow with an occasional pink blush. The big problem is that the
fruit is as hard as a rock and never ripens, whether I pick it or leave it
on the tree. If I pick it, after a month or two, suddenly it turns to
mush.>
My brother used to live in a house that had a pear tree with fruit similar to
the one you describe. I believe it was simply a 'wild-type' pear that had
originally been the rootstock for an edible cultivar. As is the case with
many grafted fruit trees, rootstocks will throw up suckers, and if not
constantly kept in check, the usually-more-vigorous rootstocks will
eventually overpower the graft. I believe that is what happened with my
brother's tree, and perhaps that is what happened in your case. Around here,
English walnuts are grafted onto black walnut stock, and old, neglected
English walnut orchards quickly revert to orchards of black walnut.
Kurt Mize
Stockton, California
USDA Zone 9
