THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



May, 1914 



Pears and Pear Culture 



A. W. Cook, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



Mr. D. Johnson, Forest, Ont. 



The announcement that Mr. Johnson haa been 

 appointed to the newly created position of 

 Dominion Fruit Commiseioner hae met with 

 general approval. Note reference to Mr. John- 

 son published on page 133. 



of the eastern factories in 1913. In point 

 of convenience, the elimination of the 

 heavy barrel with the high freight and 

 haulage charges, the leakage, freezing, 

 and crystallization are all elements which 

 any fruit grower will appreciate. 



Scientific investigation is always slow. 

 Progressive spray manufacturers employ- 

 ing the best chemical engineers obtain 

 able, and the progressive fruit growers 

 bent upon results, cooperating with the 

 experiment stations with their equipment 

 for research work, are right along bring- 

 ing efficeincy up to the minute. 



Soluble Sulphur is a true spray effi- 

 ciency up to the minute. The combina- 

 tion of the materials for spray purposes 

 and the process of making are recognized 

 as new and valuable, after most thorough 

 investigation by the United States and 

 Canadian patent offices and letters patent 

 have been issued. Neither the discovery 

 of the elements nor the fact that they 

 would combine and form a soluble ma- 

 terial is claimed, but the obstacles which 

 have halted previous efforts to produce in 

 a practical way a practical spray have 

 been overcome by the invention of the 

 soluble sulphur. 



By cultivating early in the season fruit 

 is better matured to a marketable size, 

 and better coloring is secured ; early cul- 

 tivation also induces the fruit buds for 

 next year's crop to form. The tree will 

 grow with a steady, healthy growth, hold- 

 ing the sap at the top of the tree for the 

 sustenance of the fruit buds. Early cul- 

 tivation conserves the moisture. — W. T. 

 Macoun, Ottawa. 



PRUNING pears must be done with 

 the idea of securing fruit buds near 

 centre of tree. This alleviates the 

 tendency of large limbs to break under 

 the strain of their crop. Remember to dis- 

 infect all large wounds, that are the re- 

 sult of pruning or other causes, with 

 lime-sulphur solution or some other dis- 

 infect. Take the greatest care to thor- 

 oughly treat the pruning tools while go- 

 ing from one tree to another. If this is 

 done it does not leave an opportunity for 

 this disease -to gain a foot hold in the 

 tree. 



TraN THE FRUIT 



When the tree reaches maturity and 

 comes into the bearing state there can 

 be a considerable amount of time saved 

 in the thinning of the fruit by pruning off 

 the fruit spurs. There is one disadvan- 

 tage in this method when the orchard is 

 located in a section that is known to have 

 late frosts. As the pruning should be 

 done before the leaves start there is apt 

 to be enough fruit spurs left on the tree 

 that has been late in maturing to give a 

 yield of fruit while if no thinning had 

 been done there probably would have been 

 a light crop of fruit. However, taking 

 into account this one disadvantage, prun- 

 ing can be and should be practiced more 

 throughout Ontario than it is. The pear, 

 like many other varieties of fruit, can 

 be made to yield more regularly by reg- 

 ular, systematic pruning and the thin- 

 ning of the fruit each year. 



The cultivation of the pear is very sim- 

 ilar to that of the apple. Cultivation 

 should commence as early in the spring 

 as it is fjossible to do so. Cultivation 

 should be very thorough and done sys- 

 tematically. It is very essential to keep 

 a dust mulch at the surface to maintain 

 the necessary moisture for proper plant 

 and fruit development. As all fruits are 

 composed mostly of water, the necessity 

 of maintaining the soil moisture will at 

 once be seen. This is the case in prac- 

 tically all orchards. The humus can to a 

 large extent be enlarged by the use of 

 cover crops. Among the best cover crops 

 we have vetch, rye, rape, turjiips and 

 winter oats. The rye and vetch are sown 

 in the later part of August so as to at- 

 tain a good heavy crop. After this is 

 ploughed in during the spring it is gen- 

 eraly followed by rape or summer tur- 

 nips. 



In cultivating the orchard one should 

 not continue it later than the latter part 

 of June for the southern counties. If 

 cultivation is kept up it induces large 

 twig growth. If a high color is desired, 

 this is a serious handicap. There has 

 been a feeling amongst fruit grow- 

 ers in Ontario that certain chemical fer- 



tilizers would produce highly colored 

 fruit. From experiments conducted by 

 the Ontario Agriculture College, it has 

 been found that very little of the color 

 is derived from the use of fertilizers. If 

 one were to alternate the use of barnyard 

 manures with commercial fertilizers it 

 will be found more profitable than if 

 either is used separately. 



In some sections of the western states 

 pears are put up almost exclusively in 

 boxes for the fancy markets. In Can- 

 ada, up to date, they have been handled 

 very carelessly. This may be accounted 

 for to a large extent from a large percen- 

 tage of them being disposed of to the 

 canning factories. The size of the pack- 

 age that has been used in the north- 

 western states is somewhat smaller than 

 that of our standard apple boxes. The 

 Britsh Columbia growers use a box 

 somewhat the same. The majority of 

 pears that are marketed are usually put 

 up in small baskets holding eleven quarts. 

 This is used for the local trade. By us- 

 ing this size of a carrier the pear can 

 be made to appear pleasing to the eye. 

 However, if thie fruit is to be shipped to 

 a distant market it is best to pack it 

 in a box that would be about half the size 

 of our regular apple boxes. By doing 

 this the pears present a better appear- 

 ance upon reaching their destination, be- 

 cause they have been provided better 

 protection. If one takes the care to 

 pack regularly the fruit should always 

 be wrapped. If the points here touched 

 upon are borne in mind and followed out, 

 pear growing can be made a success. 



Fruit Tree Borers 



I. F. Mctcalf, B.S.A., Gore Bay, OiL 

 An enemy of fruit trees that has done 

 a great deal of damage is the borer. The 

 presence of borers in a tree is indicated 

 by the lack of growth and by the pres- 

 ence of sawdust like gnawings and ex- 

 crement that are pushed out from their 

 holes. These may not be detected until 

 after the damage is done, unless the sod 

 is kept away from the base of the tree. 

 Frequently a tree will be entirely girdled 

 before you are aware that the borers are 

 working in the tree. 



When the work of the borers is noticed 

 the best remedy is to cut them out with 

 a sharp knife, or a very flexible (copper) 

 wire may be pushed in and they may be 

 killed in that way. However, there are 

 several ways of preventing this trouble, 

 he idea is to prevent the female beetle 

 from laying her eggs on the trunk of 

 the tree. These eggs may be laid any 

 time in the early spring, and would soon 

 develop into the borers which would later 

 on do the damage to the trees. Any pre- 



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