SOILS FOR THE PEAR 257 



Bay of San Francisco ; the next, from the higher foothills of the Sierra 

 Nevada ; and the last, so far as present experience goes, although some 

 coast and mountain situations are quite late, reach the market from the 

 Vacaville district. It is an interesting fact that this district, which has 

 long been famous for marketing the first early fruits, should also 

 market very late ones. It is true, however, that early fruits hasten to 

 maturity and late fruits are retarded. Late fruits push along until 

 about midsummer, then stop growing for a month or two during the 

 hottest weather, and afterwards proceed on their course and finish up 

 well. W. W. Smith, of Vaca Valley, has picked Bartletts as late as 

 November 19, but that is unusually late. In years with heavy late 

 spring rains the Bartlett ripens earlier in the Vaca Valley than in or- 

 dinary seasons, and when the fruit sells well in the East, the Bartletts 

 are gathered green and shipped all through the season, as their first 

 growth usually makes them large enough for this purpose. 



There is produced in some situations a "second crop" of Bartletts 

 and of other varieties, which is of account when pears are scarce and 

 is sometimes dried with profit. For such fruit the bloom appears upon 

 the tips of the shoots of the current season's growth. The fruit is 

 sometimes coreless and has led to claims of "seedless pears." Bartlett 

 pears have actually been picked in the foothills above Peatz in Butte 

 County on February 25, 1905, and described as "fine, delicious and 

 ripe." This fact must be regarded as a token of local climatic salubrity 

 and not of economic or pomological account. 



Bartletts can also be successfully held in storage for a time if fitted 

 for it. The experiments of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture, conducted in Southern Oregon, show that the Bartlett season can 

 be extended from six to seven weeks by leaving the fruit on the trees 

 two weeks longer than is at present the practice and by storing for four 

 or five weeks at a temperature of 32 or 34 F. after the fruit has been 

 precooled. 



SOILS FOR THE PEAR 



The pear, if it is not allowed to dry out entirely, will generally do 

 well on shallow soil and over a tight^ clay hard-pan, where most other 

 fruits would be unsatisfactory or fail utterly. The trees will thrive in 

 clay loams, and even in adobe, if properly cultivated. In laying out 

 fruit farms, which often include a variety of soils, even in comparatively 

 small area, the pears and plums (if on the right stock, as will be seen), 

 should be set in the lower, moister, stiffer soil, and other fruits on the 

 lighter, warmer, and better drained portions. The pear, however, 

 enjoys the better situation, though it will thrive on the poorer. The 

 tree seems to attain its greater growth and heaviest bearing on the 

 alluvial soils of the valleys and near the banks of rivers and streams. 

 All pears will be later in maturing and have better keeping qualities if 

 grown on a clay subsoil. Thus it appears that the pear will flourish 

 whether the water is near or far from the surface. On wet land the 

 apple is apt to die in a few years, or become worthless. On dry land 

 the apple lives longer, but the fruit is small and tasteless. But the pear 

 tree may bear good fruit, under the same conditions. 



