Peak Culture in Oregon. 83 



and solely to the growing of the trees. The young trees should be headed 

 low, not over eighteen inches above the ground and I would prune the 

 young tree so as to produce the vase shaped tree. Keep the limbs headed 

 back, so as to produce a stockv and strong limb. When the trees are old 

 enough to bear crops of fruit, it is well to raise a cover crop in the 

 orchard frequently and plow it under so as to keep up the fertility of the 

 soll. Do not allow the trees to grow hieb into the air, keep them headed 

 back so that you can spray them easily, which is absolutely necessary, 

 and so that the fruit may be more easilv gathered, both of which items 

 are a saving in expense. We have trees that are headed back every year 

 so that they do not grow any larger, but they grow stronger and are able 

 to Support a füll crop without a prop to keep the limbs from breaking. If 

 left alone pear trees will grow very large. I have seen pear trees that 

 were at least fifty feet high and had a spread of forty feet. It is impos- 

 sible to give such a tree the proper care and very difficult to save even a 

 minor portion of its load of fruit. In passing I will state that I have 

 seen many of these large pear trees throughout the Willamette Valley, 

 they were planted by the pioneers of this Valley. I remember of seeing 

 one of these trees cut down for fuel. It measured twenty-four inches in 

 diameter at the base and I counted forty-five rings in the cross-section 

 of the cut; each ring represented a year's growth, and the trunk was 

 sound throughout. As to how much longer such a tree would live and 

 produce a crop of pears, if left alone to the forces of nature, I leave for 

 you to conjecture. 



Do not think that all a young orchard needs is cultivation, that 

 because the trees are small they need no other care. The trees must be 

 pruned everv year, they must be sprayed everv season. Some sprays are 

 used as a preventive and some sprays are applied as a specific remedy. 

 There are fungous diseases and insect pests that will sap the vitality and 

 life of the tree if not controlled by known remedies. The better plan is 

 to keep the orchard free from all these ills, rather than to rescue it after 

 infection has taken place. 



The trees should begin to bear crops of fruit when they are 8 or 10 

 years old. Now that the trees are in bearing, the fruit must be sold in 

 some market, for the band that holds the plow, the pruning shear and the 

 spraying rod must be compensated. 



What a beautiful sight it is to stand near by where you can overlook 

 the Comice trees, the Buerre Clairgeau trees and P. Barry trees, all 

 uniform in size and well-laden with fruit evenly distributed. As the 

 afternoon sun strikes the ripening pears a flame is thrown over the 

 orchard and you realize the promises of the orchard have been fulfilled, 

 the prophecy of the spring has been rolled into history. The forces of 

 nature have been guided to produce a perfect product. The remainder 

 of the work is mechanical. 



How will the fruit be prepared for market and where is the market? 



The pears are picked bv band and handled as carefully as eggs, 

 cari'ied from the orchard to the packing house near by on spring trucks, 

 each pear is wrapped in paper and properlv placed in the shipping box. 

 After the cover is nailed tightly on a well-filled box of pears, it is ready 

 for shipment, under refrigeration, to any market in the United States or 

 England. The pears are not only ready for shipment, but are shinned to 

 all of these markets. I have personally shipped pears from the Wallace 

 Orchard to nearly all of the larger eitles of the United States and to 

 London, England, with the result that the pears arrived in good condition 

 and good prices realized. Nearlv all of the growers of pears are doing 

 the same thing. Markets have become established. What has been done 

 in the past can be more easily accomplished in the future as the grower 

 goes forth equipped with the experience of his predecessors. 



