44 





PEAR CULTURE. 



This is a favorite fruit, excelling the apple in richness 

 of flavor, juiciness and beauty. While not so universally 

 used for cooking, it is excellent when evaporated, baked or 

 canned. That it can be successfully grown in all the 

 counties of Nova Scotia is no longer a matter of conjecture. 

 The late Rev. Dr. Burnet of Pictou, N. S., for niany years 

 president of the F. G. A. of Ontario, and one of the best 

 authorities on pear culture, having cultivated over three 

 hundred varieties of this fruit, speaking of pear culture in 

 eastern Nova Scotia in 1884, says : — " I am persuaded that 

 fire blight, so disastrous and discouraging in the pear 

 culture of the Upper Provinces, is very much modified in 

 the county of Pictou A pear tree in front of my residence 

 does not show the least symptom of the blight, and this is 

 equally true of all others with which I am acquainted. 

 Pear blight is a terrible scourge in Ontario. Should this 

 not be the case here, pear culture will prove not only 

 pleasant but profitable." Again, he says : — " In Pictou we 

 cultivate the Beurre Bosc, which even in Western Ontario 

 is found to be on the tender side. We have not yet found 

 it to be too tender for the eastern section of this province. 

 The tender tips of none of the twenty varieties cultivated 

 in our patch have even been scathed by the winter frost. 

 The lengthened fall season is a wonderful help to the fruit 

 grower. A favorable comparison can be truly made 

 between Ontario and Nova Scotia in this respect. Our 

 autumn weather is perfect, and highly favorable to the 

 production of ripened wood and fruit buds. There are few 

 facts connected with fruit culture more encouraging to the 

 horticulturist than this. 



Pear culture is receiving more attention recently than 

 ever before, and it has pioved profitable both as standards 

 and dwarfs. Indeed, the labor and difficulty of growing 

 pears does not greatly exceed that of growing apples. The 

 Leaf blight is the most serious evil to contend with in pear 

 culture. It is more formidable some seasons than others. 

 Commencing about mid-summer, earlier or later, it is first 

 indicated by the leaves in certain parts turning brown, then 

 black, until they all fall off". As a necessary consequence 

 all growth ceases. If they are attacked early, and have 

 made little previous growth, they are nearly ruined, and 

 may fail to survive the following winter. 

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