Details for: PI 541343, Pyrus communis L., 'Mac'

Mac, tested as NJ 6, is from the cross of Gorhan x NJ 1. (NJ 1 was a fire blight resistant seedling identified by Professor M.A. Blake in the 1930's and was probably a hybrid between P. pyrifolia x P. communis). Mac first fruited in 1958. The fruit is acute-pyriform and only medium in size. It ripens to a straw-yellow on the tree. It ripens about with Gorhan, or two weeks after Bartlett. The flesh of Mac is creamy white and of a fine texture that is nearly buttery. The fruit quality is quite comparable to Gorham at its best. There never has been any indication of astringency in the skin of Mac as their may be with Gorham. The original tree is below medium in vigor. It has a central leader with open branching. It has good pollen. On the basis of Mac's performance both as a male and as a female parent in the hybridization program, it will be compatible with other varieties. Mac has not been as consistently fruitful as Star or Lee. Again, the original tree of Mac is not growing in a favorable site in the seedling orchard. The blight resistance has not been as thoroughly tested as that of Star and Lee; but it is apparently as resistant as Kieffer. Certainly, it is the best quality blight resistant pear variety that has been selected so far... --L.F. Hough and C.H. Baily. 1968. Fruit Varieties and Horticlutural Digest 22(3):43-45.