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In ancient times, fruits pears called gifts of the gods. Of course, southern pears are rightfully famous for their taste and aroma, but the varieties of pears developed 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 harvests has shifted to earlier times, and many varieties of pears are also not at all behind apple trees in this regard. 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 descriptions, photos and reviews of which you can find in this article. It may not belong to the elite varieties that you can show off to your friends and neighbors, but it is unpretentious, stable and reliable.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 and breeders of the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after Timiryazev S.P. Potapov and S.T. Chizhov developed a new pear variety, which was accepted for testing in 1990.
The variety, which was later named Cathedral, was obtained from crossing seedling 32-67, bred as a result of crossing the Forest Beauty and Tema varieties, and another hybrid 72-43, obtained from a combination of the same Forest Beauty and Duchess Thigh.
Only after 11 years of testing, in 2001, the Cathedral pear was officially registered in the State Register of Russia. 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 pears 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 sparsely, their tips are slightly curved upward. 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 either medium or large. They are light green in color with pointed tips and slight serrations. Their surface is smooth and shiny, without pubescence, with rough veins. The buds are large, slightly bent, cone-shaped. The flowers are also large in size, white, and resemble a bowl in their shape.
The Cathedral pear variety is considered a summer variety, but the ripening period can vary greatly and depends on weather conditions and the number of sunny, warm days during the summer. Therefore, the harvest can ripen both in the first half of August and at the very end of summer. But by autumn, as a rule, trees of this variety have time to bear fruit in full.
Pears of this variety are distinguished by early fruiting, the first fruits ripen already 3-4 years after planting. From this moment, 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. One hectare of industrial plantings usually yields 85-100 centners. The maximum yield can reach 130 c/ha.
Although pears are generally self-fertile and require pollinator varieties to grow nearby, the Cathedral pear is self-fertile, but only partially. If you want to get full harvests from it, then it is better to plant at least one pear tree nearby that blooms at approximately the same time. The best pollinator varieties for this pear variety are:
- Chizhovskaya;
- Lada;
- Children's room.
One of the most important advantages of this variety is its frost resistance.
The 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. The size of their fruits does not claim championship laurels, since the average weight of pears does not exceed 120-140 grams. But size is not 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, tender, and shiny. The pulp is medium dense, white, fine-grained and very tender. You may feel some oiliness. The aroma is present, but weak. The dry matter content of 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, many subcutaneous dots of gray-green color are barely noticeable.
The stalk is small, thick, curved. The seeds are small and there are very few of them.
Pears have a sweet and sour taste, juicy, ideal for fresh consumption. Although, due to the fact that they are stored for a very short time, one or two weeks maximum, if there is a significant harvest, it is necessary to take care of their processing. The fruits of this variety make wonderful jams, preserves and compotes, very tasty juice, and they are also suitable for drying.
Tasters rate the taste of Cathedralnaya pears as 4 points, and their appearance as 4.3 points. The fruits contain up to 8.5% of various sugars, the acid content is 0.3%.
Advantages and disadvantages
The Cathedral pear has many advantages that make it popular, especially for the family garden:
- Tolerates frosts and other unfavorable conditions very well;
- Ripens already 3-4 years after planting;
- Resistant to scab and many other fungal diseases;
- Stable annual high yields.
But this variety of pears also has disadvantages:
- Short shelf life of fruits and their low transportability;
- Small fruit size.
Features of planting and care
Pears most of all do not like close groundwater and high humidity in the root collar area. The Cathedral variety is no exception. Therefore, when choosing a place to plant a tree, be sure to check the groundwater output. As a last resort, you can try planting the pear on an embankment or even in a box artificially created from boards.
When planting, it is also important to ensure that the root collar is not buried in the ground. Ideally, it should be at ground level, but it is better to have it slightly protruding from the surface than to be buried in the ground.
Pears do not like heavy and dense soil, so when planting, it is advisable to add sand and wood ash to the soil mixture.
At the first stage of tree growth, they can do more harm to it 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 compared to mature trees.
Reviews from gardeners
Gardeners for the most part speak warmly of this pear, since it is not too demanding on weather conditions, and at the same time brings an annual good harvest of tasty fruits.
Conclusion
Pear Cathedral is unpretentious and modest, but reliable, and what could be better for a home garden where there is not always time to care for seedlings. But you can always count on a harvest of tasty and sweet pears in your garden.
