Listed by Ragan (1908) as Louise. At-least 14 synonyms for this variety are found in the literature. By French pomologists it is Louise Bonne d'Avaranches while British and Americans preferred Louise Bonne de Jersey, as it appears in the American Pomological Society catalog for 1852 (shortened to Louise in 1897.) Not to be confused with Louise Bonne of the French, which is obviously a distinct sort. Full description and color plate in Hedrick (1921). Fruit medium in size, oblong-pyriform, somewhat irregular in shape. Skin smooth, pale yellow in color, often displaying a faint blush, some 'trout' spots,quite free of blemish, attractive. Flesh yellowish-white, somewhat granular. Buttery, juicy, some grit at the center. Sweet, vinous flavor but does not rate among the best in dessert quality. Early midseason. Tree moderate in vigor, upright in habit, sturdy and productive, fairly susceptible to blight. - H. Hartman 1957Louise has many excellent qualities of fruit and tree, however, not sufficiently above the average to give it a high place in the list of marketable pears. Fruit medium to large, handsome, of excellent quality, and keeps and ships well. It has some preeminence as a pear for the export trade. The trees are not very hardy and somewhat subject to blight. It is very vigorous, productive, and long-lived. In Europe, the fruits are better and the trees more productive when worked on the quince, and, in America the variety is considered one of the best for dwarfing. This pear is a standard for home collections, and found in many commercial orchards in New York. The parent tree was raised from seed about 1780 by M. de Longueval, Avranches, Normandy. Some say the variety was first named Bonne de Longueval; others, that M. de Longueval immediately dedicated the pear to his wife, calling it Bonne Louise de Longueval. Later the Pomological Congress adopted the name of Bonne Louise d'Avaranches, by which it became more generally known. In England it became known as Louise Bonne de Jersey after having presumably found its way there via the Channel Islands. The variety was brought to the United States early in the nineteenth century. In 1852 it was entered in the recommended list of fruits of the American Pomological Society.
Tree large, vigorous, upright, very tall, dense-topped, hardy, productive, long-lived; trunk stocky; branches slightly zigzag, reddish-brown mingled with very dark grayish scarf-skin, with numerous raised lenticels; branchlets slender, long, dark reddish-brown, nearly smooth, glabrous, with few small, slightly raised lenticels. Leaf-buds pointed, semi-free. Leaves 3 1/4 in. long, 1 3/4 in. wide, much curled under at the margins, oval, leathery; apex slightly taper-pointed; margin glandless, finely serrate; petiole 1 1/2 in. long, slender. Flower-buds small, conical or pointed, free; flowers with a disagreeable odor, 1 1/2 in. across, white or tinged with pink along the edge of the petals, averaging 6 buds in a cluster; pedicels 1 1/2 in. long, slender, pubescent, light green. Fruit matures in October; medium to large, 2 7/8 in. long, 2 1/4 in. wide, uniform in size and shape, oblong-pyriform, somewhat irregular, with unequal sides; stem 1 in. long, slender, usually curved; cavity obtuse, very shallow and very narrow, furrowed and wrinkled, often lipped, the flesh folded up around the stem; calyx open, large; lobes broad, acute; basin obtuse, furrowed and uneven; skin granular, smooth; color pale yellow, marked on the exposed cheek with a dull red blush and with sreaks of russet; dots numerous, small, grayish or russet, conspicuous; fruit yellowish-white, somewhat granular, tender and melting, very juicy, sweet and vinous, aromatic, rich; quality very good. Core closed, with clasping core-lines; calyx-tube short, wide, conical; seeds large, wide, long, plumb, acute. -- U.P. Hedrick. 1921. The Pears of New York.
Monolinia fructigena fruit rot resistant in Germany. - Kock, 1911