210 HORTICULTURE, FORESTRY, FLORICULTURE 



Generally, pears may be divided into two main classes in regard 

 to ripening methods, namely, summer pears and winter pears. All 

 fruit ripened with or before the Bartlett may, for convenience, be 

 classed as summer fruit, although of course in the Southern States 

 autumn varieties of the North, like Seckel and Duchess, really are 

 summer fruits. The summer pears require but a short time, on 

 account of their perishable nature and the high temperatures pre- 

 vailing at picking time, to reach an eating condition after they are 

 picked. It becomes necessary, therefore, in most cases for the 

 grower to pick the fruit and pack it at once into the packages and 

 ship it to market. The fruit will even then arrive none too soon in 

 most cases to suit the wholesale buyer. Summer pears should 

 always reach the wholesaler in a perfectly hard, firm condition, or 

 at most just beginning to become soft enough for eating. The retail 

 dealer will, therefore, have time to handle the goods before they 

 spoil. They will usually ripen up on his hands in ample time for 

 him to sell them. The autumn and winter fruit, however, having 

 much firmer texture and requiring longer to soften, should usually 

 be partly ripened before it is started off to market. Pears like the 

 Kieffer color up fully before they are soft enough to eat, and can 

 usually be shipped to the commission houses while full colored, yet 

 perfectly firm and sound. As a general rule, summer and fall pears 

 should be picked from a week to ten days before they would ripen 

 on the tree. The grower determines this point by several kinds of 

 indications. In the first place the size and appearance are guides 

 to him. As the fruit approaches maturity the dead-green color of 

 the immature fruit is replaced by a clearer, more transparent, and 

 lighter-green appearance, which has to be seen to be fully under- 

 stood. Again, certain wormy specimens attacked by the codling 

 moth will begin to color up and fall from the trees. These are a 

 sure indication that the normal pears will ripen shortly. Upon 

 taking hold of the fruit and lifting it gently, if it is approaching 

 maturity and ready to pick, the base of the stem will part rather 

 easily from the twig at the proper separating point. If the fruit is 

 immature the stem is apt to break at any place, although it may 

 break off at the joint, but the ease with which the stem parts from 

 the twig is a very good indication of maturity. 



Pears should always be picked carefully, without bruising, with 

 the stems on. They should be laid carefully in the picking baskets, 

 which should hold half a bushel or so, and then be hauled to the 

 packing house or other convenient place and at once sorted into 

 grades, and either packed and shipped or placed in the ripening 

 house for future shipment. It is usually better in most cases, espe- 

 cially with summer fruit, to pick the trees over two or three times, 

 although this is not absolutely necessary, and unless the trees are 

 heavily loaded may not be worth while. When the fruit has not 

 been properly thinned and the trees are overloaded, many growers 

 begin to pick the fruit long before it is full grown and send it to 

 market. By this means the trees are not only relieved somewhat, 

 but the fruit that is left swells to the largest possible bulk; more- 



