CHAPTER XXII 



THE PEAR 



The oldest deciduous fruit trees in California are pear trees, as 

 has already been stated in the account of fruits at the old missions, 

 and some of the trees are still bearing, though it is about a century 

 and a half since their planting. Trees planted by pioneers in the old 

 mining districts have actually assumed semblance to adjacent oaks, 

 Notable instances are found in the Stillwater district of Shasta 

 County and elsewhere. Near San Jose there is a tree over half a 

 century old, with a trunk seven and a half feet around and yielding 

 annually about fifteen hundred pounds of fruit, some of which was 

 exhibited at the Columbian Exposition:^ 



The pear withstands neglect and thrives in soils and situations 

 which other fruit trees would rebel against. It defies drouth and 

 excessive moisture, and patiently proceeds with its fruitage even 

 when the soil is trampel almost to rocky hardness by cattle, carry- 

 ing its fruit and foliage aloft above their reach. And yet the pear 

 repays care and good treatment, and receives them from California 

 growers, for the pear has been one of our most profitable fruits. 

 It is in demand for canning, for drying, and for distant shipment, 

 and its long season and the slow ripening after picking allow de- 

 liberation in marketing, and admit of enjoying low rates for ship- 

 ment by slow trains. One of the most striking demonstrations of 

 the commercial suitability of the California pear is found in success- 

 ful marketing in London. Solomons, who was called "London's 

 greatest fruiterer," said in 1903 that California Bartletts from Block 

 of Santa Clara are the "best in the world." Even after crossing 

 the continent they seemed to endure shipment across the Atlantic 

 better than Eastern pears. 



The most obvious marks of the California pear are size and 

 beauty. The most conspicuous example is the Bartlett, which is 

 the pear of California, judged by its popularity, fresh, canned and 

 dried. When well grown, its size is grand, and its delicate color, 

 aroma and richness unsurpassed. What extreme in point of size 

 has been reached is not known to the writer, but he saw at the 

 San Jose Horticultural Fair, of 1886, thirteen Bartlett pears grown 

 by A. Block, of Santa Clara, which weighed fourteen pounds, the 

 heaviest of the group weighing twenty-two and one-half ounces. 

 But there had been larger Bartletts than the writer then saw, for 

 in 1858 a Bartlett was shown at Sacramento which weighed 27 

 ounces and was 13% inches in girth, and to meet incredulity a life- 

 size outline of the fruit was published in the California Culturist 

 of December, 1858. Other pears have made standard sizes in Cali- 

 fornia far in advance of their records elsewhere. There was in 

 1870 a Pound pear sent from Sacramento to the late Marshall P. 

 Wilder, president of the American Pomological Society, which 



