344 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTURAL 



destroyed. It is an undeniable fact that the failure of pears is 

 for the lack of skill in digging trees. The nurseryman is usually 

 sincerely desirous that his trees should be carefully taken up that 

 they may appear in good condition. But petty questions arise 

 regarding the expense of increased labor in digging trees and 

 carefully packing them, therefore his reflection is that he "guesses 

 they will do pretty well." 



SOILS FOR PEARS. 



The soil for pear production must be dry and either deep or 

 capable from its subsoil of deepening without destroying its 

 excellence, and of a looseness of texture sufficient to allow the 

 free extension of the small roots, which, at their terminals ends, 

 are spongioles which drink of the moisture, and, at the time of 

 the rising of sap, the veins distribute the moisture through all of 

 the limbs and terminals of the limbs. A soil of free loam having 

 a large preponderance of sand without being light is preferable, 

 as it is easily worked, when at times a clayey soil would be a bed 

 of mortar. A noticeable instance of this difference is seen in the 

 fact that the winter blight of the pear has never been known on 

 soils that are rich, but on the light soils of New Jersey and Long 

 Island, which seem peculiarly adapted to the growth, productive- 

 ness and longevity of the pear. While the winter of 1855 de- 

 stroyed many thousands of pear trees on strong soils in the coun- 

 ties of Central New York, in the neighborhood of Syracuse this 

 was especially remarkable. In Illinois the pear grower can find 

 many locations where excellent soils can be selected for pear 

 orchards, for we have many localities where we have a heavy 

 loam, composed of course granulated sand, fifteen to twenty per 

 cent, of clay and the remainder of vegetable matter. This strata 

 of subsoil of sand and clay extends to the depth of three or four 

 feet. A bed of gravel we know by digging our wells the lower 

 and valuable stratum is there, thus affording excellent drainage. 

 Our soil, in many localities, is well adapted to pear culture, as we 

 have many elevated prairie lands that are capital locations for the 

 cultivation of pears. 



MANURE FOR PEARS. 



It is a general feeling among fruit growers that manure which 

 will produce a good crop of corn or potatoes will perfect a crop 

 of fruit. It has been tested thoroughly that well rotted stable 

 compost is without doubt the safest, and ordinarily the most con- 

 venient form of nourishment for pear trees. Commercial fertil- 

 izers of many kinds are doubtless useful, but not for pears in 

 bearing, for the shoots and limbs feel the stimulating food, and 

 the wood growth becomes the chief factor, and the pears be- 

 come stunted and shriveled and most of the fruit falls to the 



