THE PEAR. 



The Pear, like tlie apple and many 

 other forms of fruit, is an inheritance 

 from remote times and crude beginnings. 

 In a special degree, it is a triumph of the 

 horticulturist's skill. The thorns which 

 covered the trees that originally flour- 

 ished in Syria, in Egypt and in Greece, 

 have long since disappeared, and the one- 

 time acrid fruit has become metamor- 

 phosed into the luscious forms which 

 under many varietal names holds the 

 place of the favorite fruit of modern 

 times. 



The Pear was considerably cultivated 

 during the early periods of the Roman 

 Empire, being transplanted into Italy 

 from Greece. Theophrastus writes of 

 the productiveness of old Pear trees and 

 Virgil mentions Pears which he received 

 from Cato. Even in those remote days 

 the varieties under cultivation were nu- 

 merous. Pliny speaks of many of these, 

 especially of the Falernian Pear, which 

 was especially esteemed for its juice; and 

 the Tibernian, named after the Emperor 

 Tiberius, with whom it was a favorite. 



None of these old Roman varieties have 

 come down to us. This is not to be re- 

 gretted, however, in view of Pliny's re- 

 marks that "all pears whatsoever are but 

 a heavy meat, unless they are well boiled 

 or baked." In fact, the really delicious 

 qualities of this fruit were not developed 

 until about the seventeenth century. From 

 among the eighty thousand seedlings 

 raised by Professor Van Mons, who de- 

 voted his life to Pear culture, and the 

 thousands of forms coming especially 

 from Belgium, "the Eden of the Pear 

 tree." there have been selected a large 

 number which form the favorite varieties 

 of the present day. 



More than to any other source are we 

 indebted to the French Huguenots for the 

 introduction and cultivation of the Pear 

 into this country. Many examples of this 

 early cultivation may still be seen in the 

 old trees in Long Island and New Ro- 



chelle, in Michigan and Illinois. The in- 

 troduction by these people of the French 

 method of propagation upon the quince 

 stock gave an immense impetus to the cul- 

 tivation of the fruit, as by this process 

 the period of fruiting was reduced from 

 twenty to thirty years to three or four 

 years. 



The Pear, like the apple, peach, plum, 

 cherry and many other forms, is referred 

 to the Rosaceae or rose family. It be- 

 longs to the genus Pyrus, which also in- 

 cludes the apple, the crab apple, the 

 mountain ash and the historical rowan 

 tree. For the most part, the American 

 forms have been derived from the Euro- 

 pean Pyrus communis and the oriental 

 Pyrus sinensis. The trees differ in gen- 

 eral aspects from the apple tree in pos- 

 sessing a more pyramidal form, in being 

 considerably longer as a seedling- plant, 

 and while less hardy, being longer lived. 

 It is propagated by seeds, cuttings, lay- 

 ers, budding and grafting, but its sensi- 

 tiveness to climatic conditions has mate- 

 rially limited its distribution in the United 

 States. Thus Pear culture has always 

 been precarious in the great interior 

 basin, while the heat of the southern 

 States and the severe winters of the 

 northern prairie areas are unfitted to 

 bring about satisfactory development. 

 The trees do not produce fruit on the 

 wood of former years, but on spurs which 

 grow out of wood less than a year old. 

 On the points of these, buds are formed 

 and flowers are produced, and while many 

 of these fall, such as remain are thus en- 

 abled to develop larger fruit. 



As a rule, Pear trees are not to any 

 great extent subject to fungus blights. 

 The most common of these is probably 

 the Roestelia cancellata, which causes the 

 leaves to become covered with large 

 raised spots, at first yellow, but soon 

 turning red. Cracking in Pears may be 

 due to several causes, the most common 

 l^eing a fungus on the leaves and twijrs 



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