PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



241 



aromatic and buttery. Ripening takes place with little or no shrink- 

 ing, even when picked to all appearances green. The possession of all 

 these characteristics makes the Bartlett the leading pear of California. 

 The trees have an upright habit of growth and require careful 

 pruning to outside buds and branches to develop a proper spread. 

 As they get older and heavy loads of fruit are borne this habit is 

 overcome to a large extent. The size attained by trees of the Bartlett 

 variety is not as great as in the case of many others. In some of the 

 mountain sections it is inclined to be rather small, due no doubt in 

 many instances to shallow soil and lack of fertility or insufficient 

 moisture, and in others to heavy production, especially while young. 

 Other factors, such as root aphis, crown gall and blight, may be respon- 



FIG. 12. Large Bartlett tree grown in fertile soil of the Sacramento River section of 

 Sacramento County. This tree illustrates the result of plenty of room and furnishes 

 an argument against planting trees too close together. 



sible for the unusually small size of the trees in some sections. When 

 not planted too close together in the orchard and if soil conditions are 

 favorable they often attain a large size. Fig. 12 illustrates a case 

 of a fine large tree due to a deep rich soil and plenty of room for the 

 branches to spread. The branches are ordinarily stocky and strong, 

 requiring very little or no propping when rightly pruned. Some very 

 large, excellent specimens of trees may be seen on the rich alluvial 

 soils along the Sacramento River. One tree observed was planted 

 in 1854. It is still in prime condition and bears heavy crops of fruit 

 regularly. More often, however, size is sacrificed for numbers of 

 trees per acre, which in the early years of an orchard at least results 

 in a bigger yield. 



