Content
In ancient times, the fruits pears called the gifts of the gods. Of course, southern pears are rightfully famous for their taste and aroma, but after all, pear varieties bred in recent decades are quite capable of competing with southerners in terms of taste. 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 pear varieties are often difficult to distinguish from apple trees, especially for a beginner. Even the timing of the first harvests 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 planting 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 about which you can get acquainted in this article. Perhaps it does not belong to the elite varieties that you can brag to your friends and neighbors, but it is distinguished by its unpretentiousness, stability and reliability. With the variety Cathedral, you can be sure 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 pear variety, which was accepted for testing in 1990.
The variety, which was later named Cathedral, was obtained from crossing the seedling 32-67, bred as a result of crossing the varieties of Forest Beauty and Tema, 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 Russia. Despite the fact that the cathedral pear variety is zoned for cultivation in the Central region, it grows remarkably in other parts of the country, even in the middle Urals and Siberia.
The trees of this pear variety are medium-sized, reaching a height of 3-4 meters. The crown density 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 gray in color. 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 serration. Their surface is smooth and shiny, without pubescence, with coarse veins. The kidneys are large, slightly bent, conical. The flowers are also large, white, and shaped like 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 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 fully bear fruit.
Pears of this variety are distinguished by their early maturity, 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 Kafedralnaya variety is quite decent; on average, about 35-40 kg of pears can be harvested from one tree. Usually 85-100 centners are obtained from one hectare of industrial plantings. The maximum yield can reach 130 c / ha.
Despite the fact that pears are mostly self-fertile and require growing nearby pollinator varieties, 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, blooming at about the same time. The best pollinators for this pear are:
- Chizhovskaya;
- Lada;
- Children's.
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 Kafedralnaya 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 fruits are even more convenient, since they can be placed entirely in a jar.
The peel of pears is smooth and delicate, shiny. The pulp is medium-dense, white, fine-grained and very tender. You can feel some oiliness. The aroma is present, but weak. The dry matter content of the fruit is 16%.
Fruit color 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 a gray-green color are hardly noticeable.
The peduncle is small, thick, curved. The seeds are small and there are very few of them.
Pears sweet and sour taste, juicy, ideal for fresh consumption. Although due to the fact that they are stored for a very short time, one to two weeks at most, 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, delicious juice, and they are also suitable for drying.
Tasters rate the taste of the cathedral pears at 4 points, the appearance was awarded 4.3 points. 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 in demand, especially for a family garden:
- It tolerates frost 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 there are also disadvantages of this pear variety:
- 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 area of the root collar. The Cathedral variety is no exception. Therefore, when choosing a place for planting a tree, be sure to control the outlet 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 collar is not buried in the ground.Ideally, it should be at ground level, but it is better that it protrudes slightly to the surface than it would be buried in the ground.
Pears do not like heavy and dense soil, therefore, when planting, it is advisable to add sand and wood ash to the land mixture.
In the first stage of a tree's growth, they may damage it rather than benefit it.
The Cathedral pear will require the most attentive care in the period before the beginning of fruiting. For the winter, young trunks must be protected from rodents and sunburn. In the summer, watering and feeding should be more regular compared to mature trees.
Gardeners reviews
Most gardeners speak warmly about this pear, since it is not too demanding on weather conditions, and at the same time it brings a good annual harvest of tasty fruits.
Conclusion
Cathedral pear is unassuming and modest, but reliable, and what could be better for a home garden, in which there is not always time to take care of seedlings. But you can always count on a harvest of delicious and sweet pears in your garden.
