14 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



of apples, owing to their uncertainty and tendenc}^ to over produc- 

 tion in years of plenty. Although the supply of pears has hardly 

 been equal to the demand, and until within a few years they have 

 commanded a high price, — and even now a superior article will 

 bring a \erj satisfactory^ reward, — 3'et I apprehend that, provided 

 we can successfully combat the blight, a few 3'ears hence pears will 

 be as plent}^ and cheap as apples are in ordinary' 3'ears. I notice 

 that there are more 30ung pear trees commencing to bear, and more 

 pear orchards being planted than there are of apples, and that 

 man}" orchardists are digging up their apple trees. Certainl}' on 

 soils adapted to their grotvth, pears are surer and more productive, 

 taken one year with another, than apples, and can be produced 

 cheaper b}' the barrel. 



But while the cultivation of the pear in favored localities is easier 

 than that of apples, the proper ripening and marketing of^ the pear 

 is attended with more difficult}-. Indeed, there are but few people 

 who know how to handle pears so as to ripen them in a way to 

 obtain their best color and flavor, and to bring them to maturity at 

 just the most desirable time ; or having satisfactorily ripened them 

 to put them into market in a condition to obtain the best returns. 

 A good pear may be ripened so as to be solid, juicy, and sweet, 

 with a good rich color to its skin, or it may be made corky, insipid, 

 and rotten at the core ; or again it may be shrivelled, sour, and 

 unattractive, and these different conditions may all be obtained the 

 same season, and from fruit grown on the same tree. This being 

 the case, the importance of proper ripening will readily be seen. 

 "While different varieties ma}' require slightly different treatment, 

 owing to their individual characteristics and the season, yet the 

 same general rules will apply to all. I believe that nearly all pear 

 growers agree that all kinds of pears should be picked while green, 

 and ripened in the house, but at just what time they should be 

 picked, and just how they should be handled to ripen them, are sub- 

 jects on which there is much diversity of opinion. 



But in order that we may intelligently understand this subject, 

 let us see what this ripening process is, and what are the conditions 

 essential to its most perfect development. 



Chemists tell us that about fourteen per cent.> of the pear is 

 soluble matter, and that it is composed of a trace of free 

 acid, and twenty-three hundredths of one per cent, of albu- 

 minoids, and that the rest of the 'soluble matter is made 



