Pear January

For gardeners living in regions with a temperate and temperate continental climate, the pear confidently takes the second most popular place after the apple tree. Despite the abundance of domestic and foreign selection innovations offered for breeding, pear varieties - "old-timers" remain in wide demand. For example, the Yanvarskaya pear has been considered one of the best winter varieties for many years.

Yanvarskaya was bred in the oldest institution in this industry in Russia - the All-Russian Research Institute of Breeding (VNIISPK). The nursery, founded in the middle of the 19th century in the Oryol province, became the basis of the future breeding center.

In 1955, at the Oryol Fruit and Berry Experimental Station, scientists E.N. Sedov, A.V. Parshin, M.V. Mikheeva and N.G. Krasova crossed autumn pears, Bere Tolstoybezhka and Forest Beauty. The resulting pear variety was named Yanvarskaya, because its harvest is perfectly stored until the New Year holidays.

In 1977, the variety was recognized as an elite variety, and since 1983, the process of state variety trials has been underway in various areas of cultivation of this agricultural crop.

Pear Yanvarskaya is a high-yielding winter variety with excellent keeping quality. Removable maturity of one-dimensional, with a pronounced pear-shaped sweet fruit falls in mid-September.

A small, compact tree has a broad-pyramidal symmetrical crown of branches that grow almost 90 ° to the trunk, rounded in cross-section, with curved brown shoots and smooth dark green leaves of medium size. The trunk is covered with rough grayish bark.

The fruits of the variety are medium in size (up to 200 g), they are slightly squat, classic pear-shaped with a wide lower part and slight ribbing. By the beginning of autumn, these pears are colored in a light green color, which by the time of consumer ripeness becomes yellow-green, a brown tint and a red-pink "blush" are added to it. Ripe January pears look very attractive.

Numerous subcutaneous dark green dots on the skin of the fruit are clearly visible. The skin of these pears is dry and rough, rather dense. The pulp is white, slightly greenish, with a pleasant firmness and a pronounced grainy texture. The section shows a medium-sized "bulbous" heart with small seed chambers.

The fruits have a very high keeping quality. In a refrigerator chamber at + 2 ° C pears are perfectly stored in trays for 3 months, in film packaging - up to 5 months. With a minimum minus, they do not deteriorate for about 120 days, but it is not worth lowering the temperature by more than -1 ° C: the pulp and skin become coarse, juiciness is lost. For ripening, the pears are removed from the refrigerator and sent to lie down at a temperature of + 18-20 ° C for another 20-25 days. The pears will become slightly softer and juicier.

The tasting score of the fruit is high, exceeding 4 points. The taste is rich and sweet.Pear Yanvarskaya is a healthy product rich in pectins (3%) and vitamin C (6 mg / 100 g). The main purpose of the variety is fresh consumption, although it is possible to process part of the crop for jam and jam.

The Yanvarskaya seedling begins to bear fruit in 5-6 years, on the rootstock - a year earlier. The fruits are evenly distributed over the entire crown of the tree.

In the central regions of the Russian Federation, the January pear can be harvested from September 15. You should not rush to pick the fruits - unripe pears in the refrigerator will become tough and may start to deteriorate.

Gardeners appreciate the variety for its high yield: up to 130 kg / ha are harvested on an industrial scale, and up to 100 kg from a tree. The fruits are firmly held on the branches, falling off only from a strong wind. The tree can sometimes "rest", but there is no clear periodicity in fruiting. Pears assembled one-dimensional, good presentation.

The variety takes root well and bears fruit in many territories of the Russian Federation, but is more common in the breeding region: tests carried out in nurseries of the Central Black Earth Region showed that Yanvarskaya is unpretentious to the composition of the soil and tolerates adverse weather periods well. But its winter hardiness is declared as average - frosty winters with little snow can cause freezing of the roots and bark, damage to fruit and growth buds.

This variety is self-fertile, but the proximity of simultaneously flowering trees improves the process of ovary formation.

For planting trees in early spring, you need to choose a sunny place protected from the north wind. Under the rays of the sun, future fruits will light up with a bright "blush". There should be no stagnation of water on the site, it is better if it is located on a small hill.

A distance of at least 4 meters should be kept from the tree to the “neighbors”. You can plant bushes of raspberries, jasmine, lilacs near the pear, but you should not place stone fruits: cherries and plums.

When choosing a seedling, special attention should be paid to the health of its root system.

This variety does not require special care, all agrotechnical measures are standard:

• improvement of soil nutrition is achieved by the introduction of organic fertilizing;

• growth, fruiting and plant immunity are stimulated by mineral fertilizers;

• the January pear needs regular, but moderate watering;

• before winter, it is necessary to insulate the near-trunk zone by erecting an earthen embankment.

This variety has strong immunity to many fruit diseases, but the pear scab fungus can pose a serious danger to it. Preventive measures: cleaning fallen fruits and branches, removing weak shoots - will help prevent disease. And if the tree is still sick, then fungicides with copper content should be applied.

Agrotechnical methods and spraying with natural and chemical preparations will protect against pests.