244 THE POME FRUITS 



every year, in order to keep it in a compact form and to 

 prevent it from becoming too straggly. They usually require 

 more severe pruning than the standard trees. 



Soil. — The pear requires a rich, well-drained soil. It, 

 however, thrives on a variety of soils, but it does the best 

 on a rather porous clay subsoil. Usually the pear can be 

 grown with a considerable degree of success in almost any 

 soil in which the apple thrives. The pear is usually short- 

 lived on a loose soil of open texture. 



Cultivation. — The cultivation of the soil is sometimes 

 dangerous in the growing of the pear. It has been learned 

 that fire blight is especially troublesome when the tree 

 makes too rapid a growth and it is the practice of many 

 growers to keep the land in sod to prevent too much new 

 wood from being formed. However, the pear orchard 

 must not be allowed to become too firmly sod-bound, so that 

 the trees cannot make a reasonable growth. In case the 

 trees do become sod-bound, it is advisable to plow the 

 orchard and to cultivate it during the early part of the 

 season and again seed it down to grass. Nitrogenous 

 cover crops should usually be avoided and the most atten- 

 tion given to the use of potash and of phosphoric acid 

 fertilizers. 



Planting. — The planting of the pear is very similar to that 

 of the apple. The chief point of difference between the 

 two fruits is the distance apart the trees are set. The 

 pear, as a rule, is a more upright growing tree than the 

 apple and the trees can be planted closer together. The 

 standard pears are generally planted 15 by 30 feet, that is 

 the rows are 30 feet apart and the trees 15 feet apart in the 

 rows. The trees when they are planted this distance are 

 allowed to grow until they interfere with each other, and 

 then each alternate tree in the row is cut out. In other 

 sections the trees are planted 20 feet apart each way and 

 this method is satisfactory where the proper varieties are 

 selected. The dwarf trees are planted 10 by 10 feet apart, 

 but usually 15 by 15 feet is a better distance. The greater 

 distance provides more room for driving through the grounds, 

 for spraying and for gathering the fruit. In selecting the 



