THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 93 



Some varieties are made to grow in uncongenial soils by grafting 

 them on stocks better adapted to the soil. Thus, on certain soils some 

 pears grafted on quince stocks do better than on pear roots. This is a great 

 field of future discovery and one in which discoveries are being made as 

 experimenters try new stocks to secure greater resistance to blight. In 

 all of this work, pear-growers must know not only how well the stock 

 resists blight, but also how well the cion takes to the stock and the stock 

 thrives on various soils. 



The pear is easy to suit in matter of site for the orchard so far as lay 

 of land is concerned. Altitude, exposure, slope, and local climate, all so 

 important in choosing sites for the more tender peach, plum, and sweet 

 cherry, need receive little consideration in planting the pear. A site 

 somewhat higher than the surrounding country gives the two great advan- 

 tages of soil drainage and air drainage. Good air drainage is a prime 

 requisite with pears, as it helps to reduce the danger from frost, and neither 

 pear-scab nor fire-blight are as virulent as on trees planted on sites where 

 there is little movement of air. Rolling land, so often recommended for 

 all fruits, seems not to be essential for pears, as many splendid orchards 

 of this fruit are on flat lands, which, however, usually have an elevation 

 above the surrounding country on one or more boundaries. The influence 

 of large bodies of water, so favorable to the peach, is not as necessary 

 with the pear, although the best pear regions in the State are near the 

 Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, or along the Hudson. There are no 

 successful pear-orchards in the State surrounded by higher land. Frosts, 

 freezes, pear-blight, and fungi would soon play havoc with pear-trees in 

 such a situation. 



The shelter of hills, forests, or of apple-orchards, provided they do 

 not shade the pear-orchard too much, may be a valuable adjunct to a site. 

 Such shelter, however, is desirable only when so situated as to protect 

 against unseasonable winds and storms. Tree and fruit suffer greatly when 

 loaded branches are whipped about by strong winds. The advantages 

 of artificial windbreaks, whether of evergreen or deciduous trees, are usually 

 more than offset by disadvantages. The direction in which land slopes is 

 greatly over-emphasized by horticultural writers if orchards in New York 

 are considered. The only important aspect of exposure for pears in this 

 State is that the land slope toward the water when near a large body of 

 water that the orchard may secure in full the effects that come from planting 

 trees near the water. 



