PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



285 



gating standard trees, and possesses certain merits which will undoubt- 

 edly make it more popular than the French species in the future, unless 

 some undesirable characteristics, which at present are not known, 

 should develop. In addition to Pyrus serotina, there are a number of 

 other species grown in China and Japan, some of which are mentioned 

 in connection with the discussion of varieties and species resistant to 

 pear blight. The French stock has* a tendency to produce an abundance 



FIG. 101. Large leaf from Japanese seedling, Pyrus serotina; 

 small leaf from French seedling, Pyrus communls, showing the 

 characteristic shape and serration. 



of water sprouts, which often completely surround a tree in a dense 

 thicket-like mass. This unfavorable characteristic, which is not possessed 

 by the Asiatic or commonly called Japanese stock, that has been used 

 for propagation in this country, has a direct bearing on the worst dis- 

 ease of the pear, viz: blight, as the growth coming directly from the 

 roots often becomes infested with aphis, thrips, or other insects or mites 

 and the disease is carried into the root system, where control is exceed- 

 ingly difficult and expensive and eradication is scarcely possible. In 

 addition to the absence of water sprouts with Pyrus serotina stock, it 

 is much more desirable than Pyrus communis because it is now known 

 to be highly resistant to blight. This phase of the subject is fully 

 treated in chapter on fungous diseases in connection with the pear blight 

 discussion. 



