VARIOUS SPECIES OF FRUITS 



165 



however, demands more care and good judgment, for unlike most 

 other fruits Pears should be picked before getting ripe enough to be 

 eaten. The best rule is to wait until they are full size and have begun 

 to show the colors of maturity but not until they have begun to get 

 soft. With early varieties this may be a week before the fruit would 

 ripen on the tree; with Autumn kinds two to three weeks, with Winter 



Fig. 110. Could anyone ask for a more liberal setting of fruit? 



sorts from a month to three months before the fruit would ripen in- 

 doors. (See storage, page 93). Each fruit should then be lifted 

 upwards and outwards so that it will separate where the fruit stem is 

 attached to the twig or fruit-spur. If ripe enough the fruits will 

 part readily without breaking either the stalk or the twig. As soon 



