Page Eight 



BETTER FRUIT 



3Iay, 1922 



Pear Culture in Western Washington 



THF FIRST and all important ques- 

 tion regarding pear culture is, 

 "What soil and location is best 

 adapted to get best results from pear trees?" 

 The best soil for pears is a loam or shot clay 

 soil with depth of from two to three feet, 

 well drained, either naturally or artifically, 

 with a slightly rising location sloping to 

 northeast. Pears are early bloomers and on 

 this slope they will be somewhat retarded in 

 blooming, being less liable to be caught by 

 late frost. 



Prepare the soil for your pear trees as 

 you would for your garden. The best is 

 none too good. If the ground is already 

 fertile all that is necessary is a good deep 

 plowing, discing and harrowing. If your 

 land is new and has never had a good clover 

 or other legume crop plowed in, do not 

 plant pear trees, unless you have plenty of 

 barnyard manure, until you have plowed 

 under at least one good crop of clover or 

 vetch. 



It is very discouraging to plant trees on 

 new unfertilized ground and watch them 

 stand there for two or three years and 

 make practically no new growth. Wait 

 until the soil is in good fertile condition 

 and you will be far ahead in th& long run. 



In most of the coast country one can 

 plant almost any time the trees are dor- 

 mant, from the first of November to the 

 first of April. Fall planting is advisable, 

 for you usually have more time to give to 

 the work and the roots have plenty of time 

 to establish themselves and form the callous 

 at the ends, from which the new roots 

 start. Do not plant in a hurry. A little 

 care and extra labor in planting will bring 

 good returns on the investment. Dig the 

 holes large enough for all the root system 

 and then dig them a foot larger all around 

 and a half a foot deeper. Put the top soil 

 on one side of the hole and when you cover 

 the roots use that soil first. 



You will get wonderful results by put- 

 ting in one or two pounds of bone dust 

 mixed with the top soil, when planting. 

 This gives the tree the vigorous start so 

 necessary to make a good growth the first 

 season. Make a smooth cut on all the 

 main roots before planting and remove all 

 broken parts of roots. 



For most varieties of pears a distance of 

 20x20 feet will give very satisfactory results 

 For commercial planting use one-year 

 whips, grafted on either the French or 

 Japan seedlings, preferably the French, as 

 the root system on the French pear seed- 

 lings seems to be better adapted to our soils. 

 After planting cut back to eighteen inches 

 from the ground as a low head will give 

 better results and be easier to manage than 

 the high-headed tree. 



After you have your orchard planted. 



By Elmer Harmeling 



Viii/ion, Washington 



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I While this article on successful | 



I grouting of fears was written by Mr. | 



I Harmeling -primarily for growers af- \ 



I filiated with the Westerti Washing- i 



I ton Horticultural Association, most | 



I of his instructions and suggestions ap- | 



I fly in any district where fears may | 



I he grown. His fointers on varieties, | 



I planting, spraying and fertilization I 



i may well be studied by every grower \ 



I interested in fears. The article is | 



I especially to be approved for its con- \ 



I dcjiination of slipshod, haphazard | 



I practices. There is little place in the \ 



I fruit industry, the writer points out, \ 



I for the man who picks and sells his \ 



I crop and then thinks to "go to sleef \ 



I until next season's crop hangs on the | 



I trees." \ 



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seed the ground to oats for three or four 

 years. The trees should be in bearing by 

 this time, so all you will have to do when 

 the pears are ripe is to pick 'em, sell 'em 

 and go to sleep until next season's crop has 

 matured. At least that is the method fol- 

 lowed by too many would-be orchardists. 

 if you can't take proper care of your 

 orchard after it is planted, for pity's sake 

 don't plant. 



A very successful method for the care 

 of the young orchard is to intercrop it the 

 first three or four years. Strawberries 

 planted between the rows have proven very 

 successful, as this gives the trees absolutely 

 necessary cultivation while they are young. 

 After the berries are out you can safely seed 

 the ground to clover or vetch which would 

 be plowed under when mature. By plow- 

 ing under a clover crop every other year, 

 or a vetch crop every year, the trees will 

 have enough fertilizer to produce and 

 mature a good crop. Use commercial fer- 

 tilizer if- it seems necessary, but by the con- 

 stant use of legume cover crops the trees 

 will ripen all the fruit they should hold. 



By seeding spring vetch about the first 

 of October, it is ready to plow under about 

 June 1 to 1 5 while there is still plenty of 

 moisture in the soil. After plowing, disc 

 every two or three weeks, the more the 

 better. Seed again in October and repeat. 

 This plan will bring results that will again 

 pay well. I have found that whenever a 

 good legume crop, especially red clover, is 

 turned under any subsequent crop will 

 grow and bear well. 



TjPTHAT varieties of pears are best 



" adapted to the Puget Sound district? 



Practically any variety of pears will grow 



and bear in such natural pear districts, but 



before making a selection of varieties it is 

 a good plan to study local markets. Plant 

 what the public will buy. Do not plant too 

 many varieties. It is much easier to market 

 100 boxes of one variety than 100 boxes 

 of ten varieties. Confine yourself to not 

 more than four or five varieties. 



As long as canneries operate the summer 

 Bartlett will be in demand. While the 

 cannery prices for Bartletts are not high 

 the Bartlett is a sure bearer and, for com- 

 mercial planting, it should figure largely 

 in the pear orchard. 



My next selection, I think, would be the 

 Comice. The trees make a good upright 

 growth, are good annual bearers and when 

 picked and ripened properly are a delicious 

 pear, always in demand. The Beurre Bosc 

 will stand a good chance of coming next 

 in line. The trees are vigorous, somewhat 

 straggly in growth and good bearers. This 

 pear is free from scab and other pests and 

 of the finest flavor and color, the dark 

 brown skin making it a pear that finds a 

 ready market. 



Should the Beurre de Anjou come next? 

 While the finest in quality the Anjou is 

 a shy bearer, the trees not coming into full 

 bearing until ten or twelve years old and 

 then, as a rule, bearing every other year. 

 If I had a piece of good ground sloping to 

 the north I would plant the Anjou. I 

 feel sure that the reason so many do not 

 have success with the Anjou lies here. 

 They bloom so very early that if not caught 

 by frost it is usually raining and cloudy 

 during their blooming period and the blos- 

 soms are not pollinated. By planting then 

 on the northern slope they will be retarded 

 at least a week or ten days and the prospects 

 for a crop are then good. The finest crop 

 of Anjous I have ever seen was produced 

 last year on eight-year-old trees planted on 

 a northern slope. Practically all other 

 Anjou crops were a failure. 



There is room for prolonged discussion 

 on what varieties to plant so let's not plant 

 too many. 



Prune the trees each year and every year. 

 Start with a low head and not more than 

 five branches. This gives the tree a strong 

 frame-work. Do not be in a hurry to get 

 the trees way up in the air, but cut back 

 each year, leaving 12 to 18 inches of the 

 current year's growth. Prune so the trees 

 grow upward and outward leaving an open 

 center. Each variety of pear tree has a 

 different way of growing, some, like the 

 Bartlett, with its stiff upright growth, and 

 some like the Winter Nelis with its sprawl- 

 ing crooked limbs. 



It is well, if possible, to have an expert 

 prune the trees the first three or four years 

 to give them the necessary frame and shape. 

 {^Continued on page 19) 



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