84 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



In the states in which pear-growing is a commercial industry, commercial 

 orchards are confined to localities in which climate, soil, and transporta- 

 tion combine to favor the pear. In New York, for example, pears are 

 grown for market on a large scale in only ten of the sixty-one counties. 

 These, with the number of trees in each, according to the last census are 

 as follows: Niagara, 620,743; Monroe, 384,374; Orleans, 377,371 ; Columbia, 

 308,298; Wayne, 305,239; Ulster, 304,158; Greene, 208,885; Oswego, I 54.57 6 i 

 Ontario, 121,934; Orange, 96,456. 



Over tj per cent of all the pear-trees in the State are in these coun- 

 ties, and 79 per cent of the pears grown in the State are produced in 

 these ten counties. The production of pears in New York for the eleven- 

 year period from 1909 to 1919, inclusive, show the increase and fluctuation 

 in the production of pears in the State for this period. The figures for 

 1909 and 1919 are from the thirteenth and fourteenth census reports, 

 while those of the intervening years are estimates from the Bureau of 

 Crop Estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture. The 

 yields run in bushels for the eleven years as follows: 1,343,000, 1,530,000, 

 1,886,000, 1,128,000, 2,016,000, 1,298,000, 1,375,000, 1,675,000, 1,708,000, 

 1,352,000, and 1,830,237. 



Bartlett and Kieffer are conspicuous leaders among varieties in number 

 of trees and in production for the whole country. In the great commercial 

 pear-growing regions of New York and California, Bartlett is the favorite 

 variety, but Kieffer is grown largely also, especially for canners. In the 

 South and in the Mississippi Valley, Kieffer is the leading variety because 

 it is relatively resistant to blight and withstands extremes in climate better 

 than other varieties. For many years after its introduction about 1870, 

 Kieffer was over-praised by both fruit-growers and nurserymen. Fruit- 

 growers liked it because of its resistance to blight and great productiveness, 

 and nurserymen preferred it to other sorts because it is the easiest of all 

 varieties to grow in the nursery. It is, however, so universally condemned 

 for its tasteless fruits that it is losing its popularity, and is not now as 

 largely planted in competition with Bartlett as it once was. Seckel, Clapp 

 Favorite, Winter Nelis, Beurre d'Anjou, Beurre Bosc, Howell, Sheldon, 

 Beurre Clairgeau, and Garber for the South, are the standard varieties 

 following Bartlett and Kieffer in popularity. 



Bartlett is far in the lead of commercial varieties in New York. At 

 present, Kieffer probably holds second place in this State, but its popularity is 

 fast waning and Seckel is nearly as commonly planted, if, indeed, it does not 



