THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 39 



of which pear-scab is most troublesome, requiring treatment wherever the 

 pear is grown, and under favorable conditions for the fungus preventives 

 often fail to give the fruits a fair cheek. But of all diseases pear-blight is 

 the most serious, its effects and virulency being such as to give it the popular 

 name " fire-blight." It is caused by a bacterium which cannot be checked 

 by sprays, and must be combatted with expensive and unsatisfactory 

 sanitary measures, such as cutting out branches and trees, so drastic as 

 to make impossible commercial cultivation of pears in regions where climate 

 favors the disease. 



Pears compete with apples more than with any other fruit, but are 

 at a disadvantage with this near relative in having a much shorter period 

 during which the fruits can be used. Varieties of the two fruits begin to 

 ripen at nearly the same season, but there are few sorts of pears in season 

 later than December, and these are of poorer quality than the fall varieties; 

 while apples are abundant and of prime quality four or five months later, 

 and may be kept until early apples usher in a new season. During most 

 of its season, also, the pear must compete with the perishable summer 

 and autumn plums and peaches, so luscious and delectable that the firmer 

 and less highly flavored pome-fruits suffer in comparison. 



Still another reason why the pear is not a popular dessert fruit in 

 America is that, of all fruits, the varieties of this one are the most variable 

 in quality of the product. Sorts that should produce pears of highest 

 quality bear fruits poor or indifferent in texture and flavor in unfavorable 

 seasons, on unsuitable soils, or under neglect, Good pears can be grown 

 only when environmental factors are favorable and under the most gener- 

 ous treatment. Extensive cultivation of the Kieffer and its kin for can- 

 ning has hindered the cultivation of pears for the fruit-stand and to grace 

 the table as a dessert fruit. So common has the Kieffer become that many 

 of the present generation are hardly aware that the pear may be a delicious 

 fruit to eat out of hand. 



Lastly, the pear falls short of the apple as a commercial product 

 because it is not nearly so satisfactory to handle as a commercial crop. 

 Pears are more difficult to pack, and do not stand transportation as well 

 as apples. They cannot be kept in cold storage nearly as long, and decay 

 more quickly when brought into warmer temperatures. The demand for 

 evaporated pears is slight in comparison with that for evaporated apples, 

 and although perry, the expressed juice of pears, is quite as refreshing as 

 cider, this by-product of the fruit is little known in America. As a pre- 



