CHAPTER VIII 



THE PEARS, PEACHES, QUINCES, PLUMS, 

 APRICOTS AND NECTARINES 



THE PEAR. 



WHILE the pear is not as extensively grown 

 as the apple, there is a large demand for 

 choice fruit and when well grown it is a 

 paying crop. 



It thrives best in a deep rich loam, though it succeeds 

 well in a clay soil if well underdrained. Like the apple, 

 the fruit is of better color and quality, and the trees are 

 less injured by insects and fungous pests, if planted on 

 high elevations in full exposure to sunlight and air. 

 Pear trees are more subject to injury from insects and 

 fungous pests than the apple, and for this reason, per- 

 haps, we do not often see old pear trees, or orchards from 

 fifty to one hundred years old, as we do of the apple. 

 Being smaller in size than the apple it is, however, more 

 easily sprayed and pruned and with good care ought to 

 last longer. 



Kinds of Trees; Preparing for Planting. 



No. i trees two years old are best for planting and 

 they are prepared and planted in the same manner as 

 the apple (see page 137). The after care, cultivation, 

 fertilizing and pruning are also practically the same, ex- 

 cept that in pruning the leading centre shoots of young 

 trees must be cut back more severely to force an early 

 low branching and fruiting. Much growth of wood will 



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