Full description and color plate in Hedrick (1921). Originated at Eugene, Oregon, presumably as a seedling of Bartlett. Introduced by D.W. Coolidge in 1880. Added to APS catalog list in 1909. Fruit resembles that of Bartlett in form, and coloration but is smaller in size. Flesh rather fine, white, firm, but becoming somewhat buttery when fully ripe, moderately juicy. Reasonably sweet but often develops a disagreeable flavor. Mediocre in dessert quality. Late in season. Tree of fair vigor, willowy and spreading in habit, moderate in productivity, fairly susceptible to blight. -- H. Hartman 1957.Winter Bartlett is heralded from the Pacific Coast as a winter variety bearing fruits similar to those of Bartlett. As the fruits grow in New York there is a suggestion of Bartlett in the shape, color, and flavor of the fruits, but in size, as the color plate shows, the newcomer falls far short of the older pear. The season is December and January, a time when there are a half-dozen other good pears, and since this one has no outstanding characters to make it notable, it is doubtful if it will outlive a brief period of probation in eastern orchards. The westerners say that the tree is very resistant to blight, a statement neither proved nor disproved in the East as yet. The variety is worth trying in a small way in New York.
This pear seems to have originated in Eugene, Oregon, some time prior to 1880, and to have been introduced by D.W. Coolidge of Eugene, although it must have been grown to some extent before Mr. Coolidge brought it to the front. Because of its resemblance to Bartlett, it is assumed that it is a seedling of that variety. The American Pomological Society added Winter Bartlett to its catalog of fruits in 1909.
Tree large, vigorous, upright, scraggly, open-topped, hardy, productive; branches stocky, smooth, light-brown overlaid with gray scarf-skin, with few lenticels; branchlets thick, curved, long, with long internodes, brownish-red, streaked with gray scarf-skin, glossy, smotth, glabrous, sprinkled with conspicuous, raised lenticels.
Leaf-buds large, long, conical, pointed, plumb, free; leaf-scars with very prominent shoulders. Leaves 3 1/4 inches long, 1 3/8 inches wide, stiff; apex taper-pointed; margin finely serrate; petiole 2 1/4 inches long. Flower-buds conical, plumb, free, singly on spurs variable in length; flowers very late, 1 1/2 inches across, in dense clusters, average 5 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 inch long, thick, thinly pubescent.
Fruit ripe in December and January; large, 3 inches long, 2 3/8 inches wide, oblong-obovate-pyriform; stem 1 inch long, thick, curved; cavity narrow, shallow smooth, oblique; calyx small, nearly closed; lobes short; basin small, shallow, irregular; skin uneven in surface; color yellow, splashed with russet and often blushed on the exposed cheek with bright red; dots numerous, small, brownish-russet; flesh yellowish-white, fine-grained, tender, juicy, sweet, pleasant-flavored; quality good to very good. Core small, nearly closed, with meeting core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide; seeds large, long, plumb, obtuse. -- U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York, 1921.