192 POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



so gritty, hard and acid as to be valueless for des- 

 sert purposes but useful like the quince when cooked. 

 It readily crosses with the ordinary pear (P. communisj of 

 gardens and a large number of more or less mixed seedlings 

 has been the result. Among these are two that have become 

 commercially valuable. These are the Kieffer and the Le Conte. 

 The Le Conte was for a long time thought to be entirely resistant 

 to fire blight and especially adapted to the Southern States, but of 

 late years it has been badly affected with this disease and now 

 the Kieffer is regarded as the most reliable even in the South, 

 although it is not entirely resistant to the fire blight. At the 

 North, and over a wide range of territory, the Kieffer has prov- 

 en a profitable sort on account of its fine appearance and keep- 

 ing qualities, although of inferior quality. It is also less liable 

 to attacks of the San Jose scale, at least in some locations, than 

 varieties of P. communis. 



The flowers of the pear are perfect and yet there are many 

 varieties that are most certain only when grown mixed in the 

 orchard with other kinds and it is now a customary practice to 

 mix the varieties in the orchard. This weakness of pears does 

 not seem to be constant but varies possibly according to soil 

 and location. 



Standard pears. What are known as Standard pears are 

 worked on seedlings of the small wild crabby pears which are 

 common in Europe, botanically the Pyrus nivalis, or on seedlings 

 of the Oriental pears. These have lots of plump seed and 

 are vigorous and thrifty. Most of the stocks used in this coun- 

 try are imported from Europe. The seedlings are not easily 

 grown as they are liable to leaf blight when young. 



Dwarf pears. When the pear is worked on what is known 

 as quince stocks, the resultant trees are dwarf in size and bear 

 fruit very young. Some varieties of the pear bear best and 

 the fruit is of improved quality when worked on this stock. 

 The stocks for this purpose are generally grown by layering 

 the vigorous Angers quince. The layers are then planted out 

 in nursery rows and when growing thriftily are budded or 

 grafted in spring with the pear. The pear does not make a good 

 union on the Japanese quince and all attempts to use it for this 

 purpose have failed. 



