I30 CROP PRODUCTION 



dwarfed and come into bearing earlier. Dwarf pears 

 are particularly desirable for planting in the home 

 grounds where the space is limited. They have to be 

 pruned back every year after they have become well 

 estabHshed, and the fruit should be thinned radically 

 when they first begin to bear. 



Pollination and Picking 



Many a man has planted one or two Pear trees, or 

 several of one variety, and has seen them grow and 

 blossom but bear no fruit. So he has concluded that 

 Pears were not adapted to his locality, when the trouble 

 was due to the fact that the flowers of most Pears, like 

 those of many plums, are self-sterile to their own variety. 

 Consequently it is necessary to plant near together trees 

 of different sorts that blossom at the same time so that 

 the bees and other insects may cross-p'ollenize the 

 flowers. This will lead to the fertilization of the ovules 

 and the setting of an abundant crop of fruit. 



A day's changes in one of the flowers are repre- 

 sented in the drawings reproduced on page 126. 



The quality of most fruits is best when they ripen 

 upon the tree, but in the case of the Pear the best quality 

 is obtained when the green fruit is picked as it reaches 

 its full size and is carefully stored in a cool place to 

 ripen. In the case of the winter varieties it is worth 

 while to wrap each fruit in paper and store it carefully 

 in a cool cellar where the temperature varies little. 



Pear Blight 



Pear trees are subject to attack by many pests: bac- 

 teria, fungi, insects, mice, and rabbits all find some part 



