36 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A thorough preparation of the land before planting is essential. The 

 rows should be staked off twenty to twenty-four feet each way, for standard 

 pears. I would prefer good one-year-old trees, as they transplant with less 

 labor and less loss of growth. Most people, however, prefer a two-year 

 tree. The roots should be well cut back and the top of tlie one-year tree 

 cut back to the height at which it is desirable to have the head formed, 

 usually three to four feet. The branches of the two-year trees should be 

 shortened two thirds of the last year's growth. The roots should be pud- 

 dled before going to the field, or stood in a tub of water, which is quite as 

 well, and a tree at a time taken out as wanted for planting, so that the roots 

 will not become dry in the least, and the soil will more readily adhere to 

 the wet roots. The soil should be well pressed about the roots when plant- 

 ing. A. little extra care in getting the trees just right in the rows will give 

 much pleasure in after years. 



CULTIVATION OF THE OECHARD. 



For a few years after planting, some hoed crops may be grown between 

 the rows to good advantage, provided the fertility of the soil is kept up. 

 The cultivation and fertilization of the soil should be continued, whether 

 any crops are grown between the rows or not, so long as it is possible to do 

 so by shallow plowing and frequent dragging so as to keep the surface soil 

 fine and mellow. No small grain crops should be tolerated in a young 

 orchard. My experience and observation lead me to the opinion that the 

 usefulness of the orchard ceases very soon after cultivation ceases. 



FOR MARKET OR FOR HOME USE, 



We now come to the most difficult, and yet the all important, question for 

 the grower to decide. It is presumed that most orchards are planted for one 

 of two purposes. First, to afford a supply of choice fruit for home con- 

 sumption, in which case such varieties should be selected as are pleasing 

 to the taste, reasonably productive, and ripening at proper intervals through 

 the season. Second, to produce fruit for the market. In other words, the 

 orchard is to be a money-grower. Consequently the selection of varieties 

 should be made with that end in view, and with the understanding that the 

 orchard should last and grow better for forty or fifty years, or even longer 

 in favorable locations, and with proper care. Then, only such varieties as 

 are hardy, long-lived, and productive, and produce fruit of such size and 

 quality as will be satisfactory in the markets, should be planted: This is 

 the most perplexing question that we as growers have to contend with today, 

 and doubtless will continue to be, because new varieties are continually 

 being introduced and new conditions brought about, both to the grower 

 and to the market, that are likely to render a change necessary. Many of 

 our popular varieties are popular today only because of their former record, 

 and not because of present good behavior. 



Of the more than fifty varieties in my own orchard, each one of which 

 was planted because of some supposed special merit, not more than a 

 dozen varieties, perhaps, have sufficient merit to justify their continuance 

 in an orchard for market purposes. The other varieties stand there almost 

 as cumberers of the ground. 



