The Pear. 71 



dark. Bureau drawers are excellent for this purpose. In 

 the absence of drawers, the pears may be placed on shelves 

 between layers of woolen cloth. 



Winter pears should not be picked until damage from 

 frost is feared. 



The quality of ripe pears depends considerably upon the 

 environment in which they are grown. A variety possess- 

 ing the highest quality when grown on a favorable soil, 

 with good culture, may be greatly inferior or worthless 

 grown on uncongenial soil, with improper treatment. 



T8. Packing: the pear for market. Pears are packed for 

 market in baskets, boxes, kegs and barrels, the smaller 

 packages being used for the finer qualities. Many pears are 

 shipped from California to the east in shallow boxes made 

 of thin lumber, in which the pears, individually wrapped in 

 tissue paper, are closely packed, and the box is given no 

 ventilation. When packed in kegs or barrels, the same 

 rules are observed as in packing apples, except that pears 

 should be pressed less hard. Pears are generally "faced" 

 with the calyx end down (06). Pears should always be 

 packed sufficienth- immature so that they may arrive at 

 their destination before softening. 



<r9. Insects and diseases affecting the pear. The pear is 

 harassed by numerous parasites, but except those men- 

 tioned as common to the pome fruits (49-63), only a few 

 are sufficiently destructive to occasion special anxiety. 



80. The pear-tree psylla {Fsylla pyri) punctures the 

 young twigs near the axils of the leaves in spring, causing 

 a copious exudation of sap that is often so abundant as to 

 drop upon the foliage below, and sometimes to run down 

 the branches to the ground. In severe attacks, almost all 

 of the foliage will be affected, and the tree loses a consider- 



