268 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



INSECT PESTS OF THE PEAR 



The pear is subject to several grievous pests which must be 

 resolutely combated or circumvented as described in Chapter 



XLI where the identification of the pests is determined by the 



character of the injury they inflict. 



4 



GATHERING AND RIPENING OF PEARS 



Many pear growers make the common mistake of allowing the 

 fruit to hang too long on the tree, instead of gathering and ripening 

 in a cool, dark place. Pears should be picked at the first indication 

 of ripeness, the first sign being a tendency of the stem to part from 

 the spur when the pear is gently raised up. This test applies 

 especially to the Bartlett. Picking at this stage and laying away 

 in the dark ripens up the Bartlett well. When picked at this stage 

 and sent overland by slow freight, they ripen en route and the boxes 

 open well on the Eastern markets. There are a few varieties which 

 shrivel if ripened under cover, but the rule is a good one, and the 

 grower will soon note the exceptions. Many desirable varieties 

 have, no doubt, been pronounced poor and insipid because allowed 

 to ripen on the tree. As a rule pears are ready to pick when of 

 proper size, seeds beginning to turn brown, and the flesh quite firm. 



Some pears size up and ripen before others. Some get oversized 

 before the general run are ready. If these early pears are picked 

 first, with some care not to knock the others off, the small ones left 

 will have all the strength of the tree to increase their size, and the 

 earliest ones will not get oversized or over-ripe. Fewer pickers are 

 required and the job, being longer, is more attractive. 



To ripen well, pears should be packed in tight boxes or inclosed 

 in drawers. They do not do as well as apples on shelves open to 

 circulation of air. As already stated, the oily-skinned apple endures 

 exposure and maintains a smooth, ruddy cheek and sound heart in 

 spite of wind, rain and rough weather. The pear under similar con- 

 ditions decays rapidly. 



POLLINATION OF PEARS 



As very few varieties of pears are largely grown in California 

 and as the Bartlett generally bears well when grown in large acre- 

 ages by itself, the Eastern claim that the Bartlett is self-sterile does 

 not seem to be justified in California experience. Recent observa- 

 tions indicate that even at the East the Bartlett is self- fertile when 

 conditions are favorable to setting of the fruit and self-sterile when 

 they are otherwise. As conditions are usually favorable in Cali- 

 fornia this may be the reason why its self-fertility is more conspicu- 

 ous here than at the East. 



The behavior of the Bartlett under systematic fertilization has 

 been determined at the University Farm at Davis and the results 

 published in detail.* The conclusions are that the Bartlett is to a 



"'Pollination of the Bartlett Pear," by W. P. Tufts, University of California Experi- 

 ment Station, Bulletin No. 37; May, 1919. 



