STATE IIORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 133 



Tlu' rule vi-ually u:iven is, when the stem in the trait will part from the spur without . 

 breaking. This is not always a safe guide. The time for gathering varies in the 

 same locality in ditt'crent seasons and according to the soil, season and condition of the 

 tree, etc. , it may vary a week or even two weeks, just like other crops. 



Downing regards the dropping of wormy specimens, in a sort of ripe state, as an 

 indication that the time for gathering has arrived. On old trees the same variety will 

 ripen sooner Ity a week or more than on young trees, and on the same principle that 

 fruit on the lower and less vigorous branches will ripen sooner than that at the top. 

 The proper way is to commence with those which show the greatest degree of 

 maturity, and make two, three or more pickings. The observing and careful pear 

 o-rower will so(m learn by signs that can not be described, when to pick his pears. 

 The dates of the various pickings of each sort and the result should be carefully 

 recorded, especially by the less experienced. Great care should be taken in handhng, 

 so as not to break the stems nor bruise the fruit , A pear seems to me almost ruined if 

 the stem is broken. 



To ripen in perfection, place the fruit, immediately after it is picked, in small 

 boxes or drawers, not exceeding two or three layers in thickness, where they can be 

 excluded from the air and light. This brings out both color and flavor. They should 

 be examined daily and the ripe ones removed for use. Some recommend placing a 

 woolen cloth over them to aid the ripening process, and also some dry moss, or some 

 soft substance on the bottom of the box or drawer, to set the fruits on. With careful 

 handling. I find this generally unnecessary. 



Pears known as winter varieties require special treatment. They should be left on 

 the tree as long as the leaves remain green and healthy, cr until frost is expected. 

 AVhen our winter pears are picked, we put them in barrels, or half barrels, which are 

 better, small boxes or crates containing half a bushel or a bushel, and place them 

 in the dry est and coldest place we can find, usually on the north side of a wall. When 

 hard frosts arrive we put them on a barn floor and co\ cr with straw or leaves, where 

 they remain luitil very cold weather. Here they can be kept so that 15° of frost will 

 not hurt them; and indeed if well covered with leaves, they may be kept all winter, 

 as we have done. Yet as we frequently ha\ e the thermometer as low as 12° or 15° 

 below zero, we do not feel safe in trusting to that method, and generally put them in 

 a cool dry cellar as soon as we expect a very cold time. 



A dealer in our city noted for the beauty of his pears, no less than the high prices 

 for which he sells them, has had magnificent Duchesse d'Angouleme on his stand 

 since the 1st of November. They have been as yellow as gold, and he has sold largely 

 of them at fifteen to twenty cents apiece. T asked him recently how he kept up his 

 supply so well over so long a period, and he told me that he first placed them on a 

 barn floor and kept them there spread out till cold weather set in and there was 

 danger of freezing. Then he put them in a cellar and from there he takes them as he 

 needs them to his kitchen, to fit them for the market. They certainly could not be 

 more perfectly ripened if he had the most costly appliances at his command. AVinter 

 pears, that are well grown, ripen in the cellar perfectly as a general thing, the temper- 

 ature being about 40'-^, or ranging from 8S" to 4()'-'— Ticurre d' Aremberg, Lawrence and 

 Winter Nelis especially. 



If wanted for use before they ripen in this way, they may be placed in a warm 

 room (a temperature of 50" or tiO") to tinivli ihcni ott. We seldom find this necessary. 



