Evaluation: Dr Jules Guyot

The sole-surviving fruit of Dr Jules - those that were left by the squirrels were hollowed out by wasps, just leaving one. 

Sweet, quite dry, slightly floury and not terribly juicy (though this might because the sole fruit was picked too late). Skin fine, no trace of grit or bitterness. Slight taste of pear drops (described as 'slightly musky' elsewhere). Nothing particularly special, but very pleasant. 

Needs to be picked early (at the point where it parts from the spur) and eaten while still quite firm, just as the green starts to yellow, which will be within a few days of picking giving a limited period of storage/use.

Cordon planted 12 years ago, very healthy with no predisposition to scab,  but only two crops set in that time. Only one or two fruits ever survive on each spur, which also limits the size of the potential crop. The main problem with Dr Jules is it's reluctance to crop regularly, which has been the case in both my own orchard, and the one in my parents' garden in South Wales. Curiously, the fruit in Wales was a couple of weeks behind mine in readyness.