Narrative
Blake's Pride. --A fire blight resistant, mid-season Pyrus communis cultivar. Origin: Released in 1998 by R.L. Bell and T. van der Zwet , USDA Agricultural Research Service, Kearnysville, WV and R.C. Blake, USDA/ARS, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), Wooster, OH. A cross of US 446 x US 505 made in 1965 by H. J. Brooks. Selected in 1977 at OARDC, Wooster, Ohio by R. C. Blake and T. van der Zwet and evaluated as OHUS 66131-021. Only Pyrus communis background with fire blight resistance from Seckel. Fruit: Moderate size, symmetrical, pyriform to round-pyriform, 66 mm diam., 80 mm height with short upright stem; skin yellow, glossy, approx. 25% covered with smooth, tan russet; matures 3 weeks after Bartlett, about September 11 in Kearneysville, WV; stores 3 months in common storage; flesh moderately fine buttery texture, juicy, with small grit cells at core and beneath skin; flavor subacid, and aromatic, more like Comice than Bartlett. Tree: Upright-spreading moderate vigor on Bartlett seedling rootstock. Moderate to high yield, precocious. Fruit borne on both spurs and terminal blossoms of lateral shoots. Fire blight resistance greater than Seckel; blossoms exhibit moderate resistance following artificial inoculations. Moderate field resistance to pear scab; susceptible to powdery mildew and Fabraea leaf spot. Blooms 1-4 days before Bartlett; self-incompatible, but Bartlett, Beurre Bosc, Harrow Delight and Packham's Triumph are suitable pollinizers. Named in memory of Roland C. Blake. -- Brooks and Olmo Register of New Fruit and Nut Varieties List 39, 1999.