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Appletreeman has got more and more excited every time he has come across this old variety of pear in his researches into Perthshires orchard and horticultural history...

The story began with a reference in the most famous fruit guide, written in 1884 by a Mr Robert Hogg of Berwickshire and the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society.
Under pears he lists the Jargonelle:
"In the City of Perth it may be seen as acquired in wherever there is ground sufficient to plant it. Never did the bourgeois of Rheims exhibit more partiality for his favoured Rousselet than the citizens of Perth does for his adopted Jargonelle."

And Mr Fairgrieve, Head Gardener to the Duke Of Atholl in 1886, says: "of these (few) pears that are grown, (in Dunkeld Walled Garden), only one variety, the Jargonelle, is showing a crop worthy of the term either in respect of quantity or quality. It is excellent in every respect."

I started on the quest to see if there are any Jargonelles left in the Fair City. So what does it look like?

Well Hogg says:
"It's ripe in August . Fruit is large, pyriform skin is smooth, greenish yellow, with a tinge of dark brownish red near the sun. Eye is large and open, with short stout blunt segments, set in a shallow basin. Stalk about 2 inches long slender and obliquely inserted without depression.Flesh is yellowish white, tender,melting and very juicy, with a rich vinous flavour, and slightly musky aroma."

To look at the tree it is nothing like a pear, its a floppy droopy bush with leaves like a quince!

Also there is a reference to Jargonelles in the Clydeside Orchards in 1834. Jargonelle came up for praise:
"Many village gardens (have) Jargonelle pear trees upon walls which yield valuable crops. A single tree of that species, in a favourable situaion on a gable of a house, has sometimes yielded five sleeks of pears." (50 sleeks to the pound)

The Search for the Jargonelle
Citizens of Perth, please get out there and look for the Jargonelle. If you think you have one against a wall in Perth please get in touch and let me know!