256 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM 



and five pounds in weight. Notes kept by the writer include five Vicar 

 of Winkfields weighing four pounds eight ounces; nine Easter Beurre 

 weighing twenty-four and one-half pounds, the heaviest single speci- 

 men weighing two and three-fourths pounds ; thirty-five Beurre Clair- 

 geau weighing thirty-seven pounds, the heaviest one, nineteen ounces ; 

 Seckel pears, nine and three-fourths inches in circumference Down- 

 ing's figures make the Seckel five and seven-eighths inches around. 



LOCALITIES FOR THE PEAR 



The pear has a wider range than the apple in local adaptations. It 

 does as well as the apple in the coast regions, if suitable varieties are 

 grown; it thrives far better than the apple in the interior valleys; it 

 rivals the apple in the ascent of the slope of the Sierra Nevada, and 

 gains from the altitude, color and late keeping, as does the apple. By 

 rejecting a few naturally tender varieties, or by proper protection 

 against the scab fungus, in regions where its attacks are severe, one 

 can grow pears almost everywhere in California providing pear 

 blight can be held in check, as will be discussed later. 



The choice of location is governed more by commercial considera- 

 tions than by natural phenomena. The same facts which make the 

 Bartlett the favorite variety with planters, also should regulate the 

 choice of locality for growing it. These facts were expressed by the 

 late C. W. Reed, of Sacramento, who was in his time one of the lead- 

 ing pear growers and shippers of the State, as follows : 



In the Sacramento Valley proper there is but one variety of pear that will 

 justify extensive cultivation, viz., the Bartlett. While nearly all varieties may be 

 grown successfully, and many varieties may be desirable for home purposes, yet 

 for profitable orchards we have to confine ourselves to this one variety, except in 

 high altitudes, or localities where the fruit only matures very late. The reason 

 for this will be better understood by the inexperienced if explained. The Bartlett 

 pear having qualities that make it a universal favorite for shipping, canning, and 

 for domestic market, no other variety is wanted while it is obtainable. With the 

 difference in the time of its ripening in different localities that are adjacent, our 

 markets are supplied with this variety about four months each season, viz., July, 

 August, September and October. While this pear is in the markets, any other 

 variety to compete with it must sell at very low prices. 



Of course experienced pear growers, whose taste would soon cloy 

 with a continuous diet of Bartletts, and who know fully the superior 

 quality of other varieties which ripen soon after it, would dispute the 

 position taken by Mr. Reed, but for present California taste and trade 

 he is undoubtedly correct. As the canners and shippers and local con- 

 sumers all call for Bartletts, and as they usually sell at the East for 

 nearly twice the price of other varieties, the choice of location to secure 

 a Bartlett, either very early or very late, is the part of wisdom, for 

 either end of the season usually yields better prices than the middle. 

 Some growers are even opening the Bartlett season by growing Clapp's 

 Favorite, which sells well because it is taken for a Bartlett, and closing 

 the season with the Winter Bartlett, a local variety recently introduced. 

 The earliest Bartletts come from the interior valley sometimes as early 

 as the last week in June; the next, from the valleys adjacent to the 



