European pears need to be picked before they are ripe. They will rot from the inside out if allowed to remain on the tree. Sounds like you are picking too early though. What size of tree?

Agree with Turkey re. You may pick your pears too early. Usually for most Euro pears, you pick them when they are almost ripe, put them in a fridge for a week, take them out to ripe on a kitchen counter for another week. They should be good to eat by then.

Some people skip the fridge step altogether. Asian pears can be picked when ripe and eat right away.

Some varieties of E Pears tree ripen but some don't. I'm sure it is also a regional issue and even a seasonal weather issue, but I've picked tree ripened Bosc off the tree in NY that were excellent quality. Seckel and some other varieties are fine when softened on the tree, including Harrow Sweet.

Comice types tend to rot in the middle if allowed to ripen on the tree and I'm told some get a grainy consistency if they are not ripened indoors (Boscs are rather grainy anyway).

However, even varieties that need several weeks refrigeration and a week or so of ripening at room temperature to achieve best quality should be fairly sweet when picked, I think. Often pears are ready to ripen when they break freely from the calyx but picking pears at the right time for these types is always a big challenge for me and I've been doing this for decades.

Pears need full sun more than anything I grow to build full sweetness and thinning can certainly raise the level of soluble sugars in the fruit.

None of the varieties you grow are known for their performance in the south, but I assume that is because of their susceptibility to fire blight, which will probably kill them there eventually.

The only pear I've ever grown that won't become soft on the tree or indoors eventually is Keifer. Maybe your supplier sold that variety under all those other names. It doesn't get fire blight.

You should graft some types that do well in the south on the trees.

Thin heavily- take off all but one pear from every cluster, and if you have clusters that are close together you should remove all the pears from a few clusters- enough that you cannot touch any two pears with your hand. I wait until after fruit drop.

It's kind of tedious. I've used nipper, my finger nails, and scissors and I find them all irritating!

Harvest when you can feel a little give in the neck of the pear. Chill for one-three weeks. Hope they soften on the countertop in a few days after they're removed from the fridge.

Bartlett in particular will keep very well in the fridge for a long time- one reason it's so successful in mass distribution.

I appreciate all of the advice you have provided me. This year, I will thin the pears heavily, leaving only one pear in each "clump". Will do that in the first cut, then will further thin so I cannot touch two pears with one hand.

When they ripen (when the neck is slightly soft) I will pick the

After I pick them I will put them in the fridge for about two weeks, and then on the counter for about a week or until they get soft (hopefully). These are mature trees (9 years old) and Get lots of pears but always hard.

One last thing, I am looking for a pear that is similar in sweetness to Harry and David's Royal Riviera pears. They are wonderful but not sold in nurseries. I have been to their store in Medford but they are patented and don't sell the trees. Any help for a comparable tree?