I hate to bring this up, given the eloquent comments on the delights of
finding 'non-pesticide', original variety pears on an old homestead.
However. there is one caveat. In the late 1890s until end of WWII,
orchard's were often laced with heavy metal-based pesticides. Arsenic and
copper-based products were applied, often with a heavy hand. Other inorganics such as
sulfur compounds were applied.
These inorganic chemicals are composed of basic crustal elements. They are
not the long-chain carbon compounds found in modern (post-WWII) pesticides.
The difference is that the carbon chains break up. The modern chemicals,
even the most persistent ones like DDT, have relatively short (hrs, days, weeks,
maybe years for the most persistent chemicals) life-spans. Inorganic
chemicals, on the other hand break down to their basic elements - arsenic, copper,
lead, etc.
These metals are extremely persistent in soils. No surprise here, we
extract them from the earth. We've looked at inorganics for more than 30 years.
Old orchards almost always have high background levels of heavy metals. So,
your beautiful pears may have been 'protected' by in soil inorganic
pesticides, which may still be translocated up into the trees each year. The cycle of
up from the soil, out to the leaves and fruit, drop in the fall, decompose,
and go back into the soil is commonly known and seen.
Sorry to bring in a downside, I can imagine the delight in finding these
pears. Just don't assume that they are pesticide free. Hopefully, with time,
the metals have leached away - they don't ever go away, but they may go deeper
or get dispersed to the point that any specific area has very low levels.
Jerry
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