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Groovy_Girl Central Point, OR Oct 27, 2014

This was a volunteer. I let it grow this last season, I think it's either a Pear or Apple. Worth saving?

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Oct 27, 2014

Yes. At that stage could be either.
Worth saving?

Almost all apples and pears grown in USA are carefully selected varieties, maintained by vegetative propagation, almost always by grafting a twig of the desirable fruit onto a sturdy root type.
New varieties are developed from seed. They cull thousands to select 1 or 2 nice ones. Nice ones are selected for several reasons.
Disease and pest resistance.
Taste.
Shipping/handling tolerance.
Flowering date. (Too early may freeze, too late perhaps a pest will move in on it)
Ripening date.
Tolerance for the climate- winter cold, summer heat (or lack of)
Other things.

If the plant you have grew from a seed you do not know what the parents are, what the genetic heritage is. It is a gamble, but if you have the space, go for it.
If the plant you have grew from the root of a commercial plant, then highly likely the fruit is not going to be much good.
If the plant you have grew from the top part of a commercial plant, then it will match the mother plant for fruiting, but if it is growing on its own root it may not grow so well. Plants are grafted onto a good rootstock because the root of the original plant may be subject to pests (nematodes, other) or diseases. The rootstock of the commercial plant might be simply for standard size of the plant (some rootstocks can dwarf the upper part).

In short, it is a gamble, but if you have some room, and some time (5 years or so before first crop on many fruit trees)...

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