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In ancient times, the fruits of pears were called the gifts of the gods. Of course, southern pears are rightfully famous for their taste and aroma, but the varieties of pears bred in recent decades are quite capable of competing with southerners in terms of taste characteristics. At the same time, they are distinguished by winter hardiness, which even many apple trees can envy. And by the appearance of the tree, modern varieties of pears are often difficult to distinguish from apple trees, especially for a beginner. Even the timing of the first harvest has shifted to earlier ones, and many varieties of pears also do not lag behind apple trees in this respect. Therefore, there should be no thought about whether to plant a pear in the garden. It is much more important to decide on the variety.
One of these varieties is the Cathedral pear with a description, photo and reviews of which you can find in this article. Perhaps it does not belong to the elite varieties that you can boast to your friends and neighbors, but it is distinguished by unpretentiousness, stability and reliability. With the Cathedral variety, you can be calm about the harvest – it will delight you with it every year, regardless of various natural disasters.
History and description of the variety
More than 20 years ago, famous scientists – breeders of the Timiryazev Moscow Agricultural Academy S.P. Potapov and S.T. Chizhov developed a new variety of pear, which was accepted for testing in 1990.
The variety, which was later named Cathedral, was obtained by crossing the seedling 32-67, bred as a result of crossing the varieties Forest Beauty and Theme, and another hybrid 72-43, obtained from a combination of the same Forest beauty and Duchesse Bedro.
Only after 11 years of testing, in 2001, the Cathedral pear was officially registered in the State Register of Our Country. Despite the fact that the Cathedral pear variety is zoned for cultivation in the Central region, it grows remarkably well in other regions of the country, even in the middle Urals and Siberia.
The trees of this variety of pear are characterized by medium size, they reach a height of 3-4 meters. The density of the crown is also average, the crown itself has the shape of a cone. The branches grow quite rarely, their tips are slightly bent upwards. The bark of the main skeletal branches and trunk is smooth and has a gray tint. Younger shoots are brown-red, slightly pubescent.
Leaves can be medium or large. They have a light green tint with pointed tips and slight serrations. Their surface is smooth and shiny, without pubescence, with coarse veins. The kidneys are large, slightly recurved, cone-shaped. The flowers are also large in size, white in color, their shape resembles a bowl.
The Cathedral pear variety is considered summer, but the ripening period can vary greatly and depends on weather conditions and the number of sunny warm days during the summer. Therefore, the crop can ripen both in the first half of August and at the very end of summer. But by autumn, as a rule, the trees of this variety have time to fully bear fruit.
Pears of this variety are characterized by precocity, the first fruits ripen already 3-4 years after planting. From this point on, fruiting becomes regular and increases from year to year.
The yield of the Cathedral variety is quite decent, on average, about 35-40 kg of pears can be harvested from one tree. From one hectare of industrial plantings, usually 85-100 centners are obtained. The maximum yield can reach 130 c/ha.
Despite the fact that pears are mostly self-fertile and require pollinator varieties to grow nearby, the Cathedral pear is self-fertile, but only partially. If you want to get full-fledged harvests from it, then it is better to plant at least one pear tree next to it, which blooms at about the same time. The best pollinator varieties for this pear variety are:
- Chizhovskaya;
- Lada;
- Children’s.
One of the most important advantages of this variety is its frost resistance.
A great advantage of this variety is also its complete resistance to scab. The variety also shows sufficient resistance to other fungal diseases.
Fruit Characteristics
The fruits of the Cathedral variety have a regular pear-shaped shape and a slightly bumpy surface. By the size of their fruits, they do not claim to be champion laurels, since the average weight of pears does not exceed 120-140 grams. But size is far from always of paramount importance – for some types of preservation, for example, compotes, small-sized fruits are even more convenient, since they can be placed entirely in a jar.
The skin of pears is smooth and tender, shiny. The pulp is characterized by medium density, white, fine-grained and very tender. You can feel some oiliness. The aroma is present, but weak. The content of solids in fruits is 16%.
The color of the fruit is predominantly green, especially at the stage of technical maturity. When fully ripe, the color may change to light yellow.
On the surface of the fruit, a lot of gray-green subcutaneous dots are barely noticeable.
The peduncle is small, thick, curved. The seeds are small and very few.
Sweet and sour taste pears, juicy, ideal for fresh consumption. Although, due to the fact that they are stored for a very short time, one to two weeks maximum, then in the presence of a significant harvest, it is necessary to take care of their processing. From the fruits of this variety, wonderful jams, preserves and compotes are obtained, very tasty juice, and they are also suitable for drying.
Tasters rate the taste of Cathedral pears at 4 points, the appearance was rated at 4,3 points. Fruits contain up to 8,5% of different sugars, the acid content is 0,3%.
Advantages and disadvantages
Pear variety Cathedral has many advantages that make it in demand, especially for the family garden:
- It tolerates frosts and other adverse conditions very well;
- Ripens already 3-4 years after planting;
- Resistant to scab and many other fungal diseases;
- Stable annual high yields.
But there are also disadvantages to this variety of pears:
- Short shelf life of fruits and their low transportability;
- Small fruit size.
Features of planting and care
Pears most of all do not like the close occurrence of groundwater and high humidity in the region of the root collar. Variety Cathedral is no exception. Therefore, when choosing a place for planting a tree, be sure to check the outflow of groundwater. In the most extreme case, you can try to plant a pear on an embankment or even in a box artificially created from boards.
When planting, it is also important to ensure that the root neck is not buried in the ground. Ideally, it should be at ground level, but it is better for it to protrude slightly on the surface than to be buried in the ground.
Pears do not like heavy and dense earth, therefore, when planting in a soil mixture, it is advisable to add sand and wood ash.
At the first stage of tree growth, they can harm it rather than benefit it.
The Cathedral pear will require the most careful care in the period before fruiting begins. For the winter, young trunks must be protected from rodents and sunburn. In summer, watering and fertilizing should be more regular than with mature trees.
Reviews of gardeners
Most gardeners speak warmly about this pear, because it is not too demanding on weather conditions, and at the same time brings a good annual harvest of tasty fruits.
Conclusion
Pear Cathedral – unpretentious and modest, but reliable, and what could be better for a home garden, in which there is not always time to care for seedlings. But you can always count on a harvest of delicious and sweet pears in your garden.
