PEAR 



PEAR 



2509 



^flowers and tips of shoots) and thrives in soft or suc- 

 culent" parts. Gradually the micro-organism works 

 down the stems, killing the tissues and causing the 

 leaves to die. In the leaf-blight, which is a distinct 

 disease the leaves are more or less spotted and they 

 fall- in the pear-blight, the leaves turn black and hang 

 on the tree. The fire-blight also attacks apple trees, 



2810. The Kieffer pear (pointed form), now one of the most 

 important varieties. ( X >i) 



particularly in the Plains region. It is probably aborigi- 

 nal on hawthorns and related plants. There is no 

 perfect preventive of the disease. Some varieties seem 

 to be relatively immune, as, for example, the Angouleme. 

 It is now generally believed that trees are more sub- 

 ject to the disease when they are making excessive 

 growth; therefore it is advised that tillage and the 

 application of stimulating manures be moderate. As 

 soon as the disease appears, cut out the affected parts, 

 severing them some inches below the lowest point of 

 visible attack. Do not allow blighted branches to 

 remain on the tree over winter. Disinfect the wounds or 

 stubs and the implements with bichloride of mercury or 

 other antiseptic. Destroy hedgerows and thickets in 

 which are other trees on which the blight is carried, as 

 hawthorns, quinces, and diseased apple and pear trees. 

 It is probable that there is a connection with insects in 

 the spread of pear-blight. 



Literature. 



There are no recent American books on the pear. 

 Two books have been written on this fruit: Thos. 

 W. Fields' "Pear Culture," New York, 1858; P. T. 

 Quinn's "Pear Culture for Profit," New York, 1869, 

 new edition, 1883. There are bulletins from the United 

 States Department of Agriculture and some of the state 

 experiment stations. Many years ago the writer secured 

 from the venerable T. T. Lyon (Vol. Ill, page 1585), an 

 article, for publication, on the pear. This was pub- 

 lished in the "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture." 

 The Editor is glad again to place this article alongside 

 the others in order to contrast the viewpoints of two 

 generations. Mr. Lyon's article, which is excellent and 

 cautious and characterized by beauty of style, is of the 

 tvpe that we no longer see. The person who is familiar 

 with present-day points of view will discover that it 

 lays the emphasis on formal presentation, propagation, 

 pruning, varieties, whereas little or no attention is 

 given to systems of tillage, pollination, spraying, and 

 commercial methods. The methods in pear-culture, 

 and the varieties, have probably changed less in the 

 last fifteen to twenty-five years than those of any other 

 standard fruit ; as a whole, pear-culture is not extending 

 to any marked degree; and the article that follows is 

 still timely. L. H. B. 



The pear and its cultivation. 



So far as cultivators generally are concerned, this 

 fruit is less important than its near relative, the apple, 

 for the reason that, while the two begin to ripen at 

 nearly the same season, there are few, if any, desirable 

 varieties of pears in season later than December (if we 

 except a few austere ones, suitable only for culinary 

 purposes), while apples are abundant for four or five 

 months longer. Moreover, during its entire season, the 

 pear is supplemented by the mass of luscious, though 

 perishable, summer and autumn fruits. The liability of 

 very many usually excellent varieties to be rendered 

 indifferent in quality by unfavorable seasons, neglect or 

 unsuitable soil, is also a serious detriment to the general 

 popularity of this fruit. The liability to the loss of the 

 trees by blight, beyond question detracts greatly 

 from the value of the pear, especially for com- 

 mercial purposes; while it also exerts a dis- 

 couraging influence upon amateur planting. To 

 the careful and discriminating amateur, as well 

 as to the man of wealth, with a fondness for 

 '^ fruit-culture whether in person or by proxy, 

 ^Jgr? this fruit often assumes a prominence over any, 

 5^E^~ if not all, others. 



Extent of cultivation. 



Doubtless, for reasons heretofore stated, pear 

 trees are but sparingly planted by most per- 

 sons. TJie fruit sent to market comes largely 

 from the plantations of specialists who, with 

 soils adapted to the purpose and the necessary knowl- 

 edge of varieties, have undertaken the business as a 

 commercial enterprise. In the climates of the seaboard, 

 and, to a considerable extent, in the region of the 

 Great Lakes, the pear is exceptionally successful; while 

 away from the influence of large bodies of water, and 

 especially in the prairie regions of the Mississippi 

 Valley, from unsuitableness of climate or soil, or both 

 combined, the trees are liable to be either killed or 

 seriously injured in winter, and hence are short-lived 

 and unprofitable. 



Aspect. 



Perhaps in no other important particular does the 

 climate of eastern and central North America differ 

 more widely from that of the pear-growing regions of 

 Europe than in its liability to sudden and extreme 

 variations of temperature. Owing to this climatic 

 pecularity, aspect becomes an important consideration 

 in the selection of a location for a plantation of pear 

 trees. As a means of avoiding the full influence of 

 exposure to the rays of the sun, during the severer 

 paroxysms of summer heat, while the trees are in 

 actual growth, and also to 

 mitigate the liability to alter- 

 nate freezing and thawing in 

 winter, a northerly or north- 

 easterly slope is to be pre- 

 ferred ; which, however, should 

 be so gradual as not seriously 

 to interfere with the conveni- 

 ence of cultivation. As we 

 approach the northern limit 

 of practicable pear-culture, 

 however, a modification of 

 this rule of selection may be 

 found desirable, since, with 

 the shorter growing season, a 

 warmer exposure may prove 

 necessary as a means of 

 hastening maturity. 



Soils. 2811. Section of the Kieffer 



While the pear tree will pear, to show its ordinary 

 yield more or less satisfac- form in the North. 



