‘Old Home’ and ‘Farmingdale,’ the Romeo and Juliet of Pear Rootstocks: An Historical Perspective

Abstract

The search for a high quality pear rootstock was begun by Professor F. C. Reimer in the early part of the 20th century. He obtained two fire blight-resistant clones of Pyrus communisL., ‘Old Home’ and ‘Farmingdale from Illinois.’ These two clones became a “Romeo and Juliet” of pear rootstocks producing the ‘Old Home x Farmingdale’ series. In the United States the names and numbers of this series have been trademarked and several clones were patented. Three generations later, ‘Old Home’ continues to be used as a parental source of pear fire blight and decline-resistant genes in rootstock and cultivar breeding programs in the United States, Canada, France, England, and Germany.