The Williams bon Chrétien pear, commonly called the Williams pear in Australia or the Bartlett pear in the United States and Canada, is the most commonly grown variety of pear in most countries outside Asia. Thought to date from 1765 to 1770 from the yard of an Aldermaston, England, schoolmaster named Mr. Stair or Mr. Wheeler. In 1799 James Carter imported several Williams trees into the United States, and they were planted on the grounds of Thomas Brewer in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Large, greenish yellow, orange blushed fruit, smooth skin, classic if slightly dumpy pear shaped. The flesh is smooth and moderately juicy and sweet. Keeps shape with cooking and good for bottling.
- Pollination Group: Partially self-fertile. Beurre Bosc, Comice, Winter Nellis, Winter Cole, Doyenne Du Comice, Beurre Diel, Yellow Huffcap, Durondeau, Easter Beurre, Beurre Superfin, Forelle, Gin
- Size: Up to 5 metres when mature
- Harvest: early-mid february
Hedrick U.P. (1921). Twenty-ninth Annual Report, Vol. 2, Part II, The Pears of New York, Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the year 1921. State of New York - Department of Agriculture. Albany: J.B. Lyon Company, 1921
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