310 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. No. 4. 



Marketing. 



The demand for pears is so great that there is little trouble to dis- 

 pose of them in any market. A large foreign demand has grown up, 

 and large quantities of Bartletts and Keiffers are exported annually. 



Where pears are of fine or fancy quality, they should be wrapped in 

 paper and shipped in bushel boxes. The boxes will cost 18 cents, but 

 fruit well packed in boxes commands a much higher price than when 

 shipped in barrels, provided the fruit is fine. In packing in boxes, 

 the grading should be well done, so that an even number of pears may 

 be packed, and the number stenciled on the box. This is of value to 

 the buyer, who may know just what he will have to sell. Where there 

 is uncertainty in regard to the number of pears in a box, the buyer 

 will bid the lowest price. 



To export pears, the boxes should have cushions made of paper and 

 excelsior placed on the bottom and top of each box, as the fruit will 

 keep tight and ship better. It is important that the pears reach the 

 market in good condition, as when they become slack, bruised and 

 wet they have to be sold at a much lower price. 



Bartletts and later pears — the Bosc, Anjou, Seckel and Winter 

 Nelis — may be held in cold storage for several weeks. For storing, 

 the fruit should be shipped as soon as possible after it is picked and 

 packed. Every day of delay in getting the fruit to the cold storage 

 will shorten its keeping quality. For the most successful results in 

 storage the fruit should be picked when fully matured, but not at all 

 approaching ripeness. The right time for picking is when the pear 

 will cleave from the fruit spur readily and without breaking the stem ; 

 at this time the finest quality will develop. The pear differs from 

 most fruits, in that it is much better ripened off the tree; and if left on 

 the trees to get too near the ripening point neither the quality of the 

 pears nor their keeping in storage will be so good. 



There is a large and growing demand for pears for canning, both in 

 home and foreign markets, which gives a large outlet for the croj) when 

 grown on a large scale. 



Eastern Massachusetts Superior for Pears. 

 There are few sections of our country where better pears are grown 

 than in the territory for 40 miles about Boston, The soil and 

 climatic conditions are most excellent, the trees thrive, and the fruit 

 is of the best in every point of fine quality. Other sections of the 

 State have good conditions for this fruit, and a pear industry may be 

 built up that will have large financial value. 



