Raised as a Kieffer seedling by O.H. Ayer, of Lawrence, Kansas. First propagated in 1907. Believed a cross of Kieffer and Duchesse d'Angouleme. Fruit resembles Kieffer in form but inclined to be smaller in size. Skin greenish-yellow in color, reasonably free of blemish. Flesh fairly tender, quite juicy, not very gritty. Sprightly, pleasing flavor, although at times fairly acid. Superior to Kieffer in dessert quality. Midseason. Tree fairly vigorous, productive, highly blight resistant. - H. Hartman, 1957.In regions where blight and heat make pear-growing precarious, and pears with oriental blood, as Kieffer, Garber and Le Conte, must be grown, Douglas, which belongs with the pears just named, might well be tried. It is better in flavor than any other variety of its class, The trees come in bearing remarkably early, and are as productive as those of Kieffer, though hardly as large or vigorous. The trees are inclined to overbear, in which case the fruits run small. The variety has little to recommend it, but those who grow Kieffer might put it on probation with the hope of growing a fruit passably fair for dessert. Douglas is a seedling of Kieffer crossed, it is believed, with Duchesse d'Angouleme by O. H. Ayer, Lawrence, Kansas, about 1897. Tree medium in size and vigor, upright, very produc-tive; trunk slender, smooth ; branches slender, dull brownish-red. Leaves 3 1/4 inches long, 1 1/2 inches wide, thick ; apex taper-pointed ; margin glandless, finely and shallowly serrate; petiole 1 5/8 inches long. Flowers 1 1/4 inches across, white or occasionally with a faint tinge of pink, 11 or 12 buds in a cluster. Fruit matures in October; large, 3 1/4 inches long, 2 3/4 inches wide, obovate-pyriform, tapering at both ends like the Kieffer; stem 1 5/8 inches long, slender; cavity deep, narrow, compressed, often lipped; calyx small, partly open; basin furrowed; skin thick, tough; color pale yellow, heavily dotted arid sometimes flecked with russet dots numerous, small, light russet or greenish; flesh tinged with yellow, firm but tender, granular, very juicy, sweet yet with an invigorating flavor; quality good; core closed, axile; calyx tube short, wide; seeds long, plump, acute. -- U.P. Hedrick, The Pears of New York, 1921.