300 



PEAR GROWING IN CALIFORNIA. 



CHAPTER VI. 



SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION FOR PLANTING. 



The pear is one of the hardiest fruit trees and flourishes on many 

 types of soil and occasionally under conditions which no other trees 

 would stand. The exceedingly fertile valley soils along the river 

 bottoms of the North Central Interior Region are well adapted for pear 

 culture. Trees on such soils make a very rapid and thrifty growth, and 

 bear regularly and heavily with a minimum amount of fertilizing. 

 Much of this bottom land soil is subject to periodical flooding during the 

 winter season, and the pear is the only fruit tree that will thrive under 

 the excessive moisture conditions that sometimes exist. Fig. Ill shows 



FIG. 111. Bartlett pear orchard on low land where the trees stand in 

 water for weeks during the rainy season. In the center of the picture may 

 be seen indistinctly a post left near the top of the tree by receding -high 

 water. 



an orchard in Tehama County which is planted on low land that floods 

 during the rainy, season. When the picture was taken the trees were 

 25 years old and were standing in water from 1 to 3 feet deep. They 

 were blooming and leafing out under this seemingly unfavorable condi- 

 tion, which exists for weeks at a time. The orchard is said to be 

 productive, seldom failing to yield a good crop. There are many 

 orchards of this kind along the Sacramento River, and as long as the 

 under drainage is good, allowing the soil to dry out quickly after water 

 is removed from the surface, there is little danger of the trees being 

 injured. On the other hand a heavy clay subsoil or hardpan, tending 

 to keep the water in the upper strata of soil too long, will cause injury 

 to the trees. 



