PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 225 



slbility of development we are forced to ask ourselves the question 

 "Can the business be overdone?" This question can not be directly 

 answered and involves so many things that we can do little more than 

 speculate. Suffice it to say here that California's soil and climatic con- 

 ditions are such that in spite of difficulties which have driven other 

 sections out of the business our growers have succeeded. Most import- 

 ant of these difficulties with which other states have not been able to 

 cope are frost and blight. The assurance of practically annual crops 

 is necessary in order that there may be justification for the expenditure 

 of large amounts of money in the fight to control pear blight. Cali- 



FIG. 3. Orchard scene in the "Southern California Desert Region" near its 

 northern extremity in Kern County. 



fornia pear growers are extremely fortunate in this respect and in many 

 sections there is little thought of any injury from spring frosts, and 

 while each year's crop varies in its size, there is nearly always an 

 abundance of fruit. In a few places the frost hazard must be reckoned 

 with, and orchard heaters can sometimes be used to good advantage. 



An attempt was made, in the preparation of this work, to gather 

 figures on the acreage of pears grown in other states of the Union which 

 were rated as being of considerable importance as far as this industry 

 is concerned. As a basis for estimates the census figures of 1910, 

 showing the acreage of pears in the various states of the Union during 

 that year were taken. A letter was written to some noted horticul- 

 turist or to an experiment station director in each of these states, and a 

 request was made for information as to the present acreage in pears in 

 comparison with that given in the census report for 1910. It is a very 

 significant fact that without a single exception the answers that came 

 to us from the eastern and middle western states showed that the 

 acreage of pears had either remained the same or had decreased rather 

 than increased since 1910, and that the decrease was due to the ravages 

 of blight and the inability of the growers to control the disease. As an 



