2'J i 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



In the future it is hoped that the investi*- 

 gations may be broadened so that eventu- 

 ally the various fruits and vegetables may 

 be included in the experiments. During 

 1901 the principal winter apples and the 

 Kieffer pear have been under investigation, 

 an outline of which and a report of progress 

 follows : 



The Kieffer is the great business pear for 

 the masses of planters and consumers out- 

 side of the Pacific coast district. It is 

 grown in enormous quantities in the tide- 

 water States, from New Jersey southward 

 to Florida, in Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, 

 Indiana and Ohio ; smaller, but important, 

 plantings in New York, Western Michigan, 

 Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas and in the Ni- 

 agara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada, and 

 still smaller orchard areas in nearly every 

 other State where pears will grow. New 

 orchards of Kieffer are still being planted 

 throughout the Kieffer belt, though the 

 extension is less rapid than previous to 

 1899. 



The production of the Kieffer has become 

 so vast that the cost of production is hardly 

 realized when there is a general apple crop, 

 and when peaches are abundant for canning. 

 The bulk of the crop is used for canning 

 while the fresh fruit needs to be sold in a 

 comparatively short time. The over-pro- 

 duction of the Kieffer could be greatly re- 

 lieved by a more equitable distribution of 

 the fruit in the domestic and foreign mar- 

 ket season. It was shipped abroad in con- 

 siderable numbers, with most encouraging 

 results, for the first time in 1901. The 

 Kieffer has not been successfully held in 

 many storage houses. It sometimes dis- 

 colors on the outside before it softens. At 

 other times it decays at the core while still 

 firm outside, while a further difficulty has 

 been its rapid discoloration and deteriora- 

 tion on withdrawal. In fact so great have 

 been the difficulties in the past that some 



storage houses refused to accept Kieffer in 

 1 90 1. 



General Conclusions. — The following gen- 

 eral conclusions may be drawn from the be- 

 havior of the pears in all lots stored in cold 

 storage, up to date, February 10 : 



1. A temperature of 32 prolonged the du- 

 rability of the fruit in storage beyond a tem- 

 perature of 36. 



2. A wrapper prolonged the durability of 

 the fruit in storage. 



3. The Kieffers that were ripened in cold 

 storage were apparently as good as the 

 same fruit ripened in the ordinary manner. 



4. The Kieffers that were taken out from 

 a temperature of 32, it firm when withdrawn, 

 kept in a temperature of 50 to 60 for two or 

 three weeks without discoloration or loss of 

 quality. From a temperature of 36 they 

 did not keep more than ten days. 



5. Discoloration at the core was due to 

 delay in the storage of the fruit after it is 

 picked, except that undeveloped Kieffers 

 may be stored after ripening without subse- 

 quent discoloration. Wormy Kieffers dis- 

 color at the core in any treatment. 



6. Discoloration of the skin was due to 

 bad handling, i. e., rough picking, packing, 

 or any other factor that causes bruising. 



Kieffers in Storage. — It will be seen from 

 observations which we have make that the 

 principal troubles with the Kieffers in stor- 

 age were due, primarily to their treatment 

 before they reached the storage compart- 

 ment. Our experiments indicate that the 

 fruit should be picked when green, hard, 

 graded well, stored immediately after pick- 

 ing, in a temperature not above 32 (and 

 possibly as low as 31), and no serious dif- 

 ficulty may be expected from such treat- 

 ment. Fruit growers should realize that 

 the successful storing of the Kieffer depends 

 as much upon them as upon the conditions 

 in the storage house. Refrigeration will 

 not make first quality fruit of seconds, nor 



