HORTICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT SAN ANTONIO. 13 



Some few plantings of pears have been made in the vicinity of 

 San Antonio and have given varied results. The soils richest in 

 lime, especially those with limestone gravel very near the surface, 

 are not adapted to the culture of pears. The following varieties have 

 been tested: Bartlett, KiefTer, Kruger, Le Conte, Magnolia, Russet, 

 Sand, Smith, Vermont Beauty, and Early Wilder. 



From the behavior of these varieties it would appear that the pear 

 is less promising than the peach and the plum. The trees respond 

 vigorously to a slight increase in altitude. Black lands lying north 

 of San Antonio can produce successfully fruit of the Le Conte and 

 KiefTer varieties, the latter being the more successful. Either of these 

 varieties appears to succeed best when worked on Le Conte seedling 

 stock. A recent oriental introduction of wild pear is being tested, 

 which gives promise of exceptional value as a stock for species of 

 Pyrus or Malus grown in this soil. 



Pears in this locality are not free from the disease known as pear 

 twig-blight, but climatic conditions are such that the disease is not 

 severely destructive, and many seasons pass without its appearance, 

 even in infected orchards. 



Mr. Schattenberg, of Boerne, has been testing pears since 1892 and 

 during the period has grown a large number of varieties. Boerne is 

 located at an elevation of about 1,400 feet, about 700 feet higher 

 than San Antonio, and though the rainfall is somewhat greater the 

 soil is very similar. Mr. Schattenberg believes that from a com- 

 mercial standpoint the pear is more promising than any other fruit 

 in sections having similar conditions. 



As a class the European varieties do not fruit well, and the fruit is 

 of such poor quality that difficulty is found in marketing the crop. 

 There are, however, a few exceptions to this, as, for instance, the 

 Bartlett, Howell, Duchess, and Guyot varieties. The Bartlett and 

 Angouleme develop such awkward shapes and grow so large that they 

 are frequently unmarketable. The Howell, when dwarfed by work- 

 ing on quince root, is a valuable variety. The best of them all, how- 

 ever, is the Guyot. 



The oriental hybrids are the best and most reliable. While rather 

 low in quality, they bear regularly and abundantly. Mr. Schatten- 

 berg believes that the KiefTer is the best of this group. Besides the 

 KiefTer the other varieties recommended are the Le Conte, Smith, 

 Garber, Katy (of Texas), Golden Russet, and Magnolia, but for 

 profitable commercial orcharding the KiefTer is far superior to all 

 others in quality and as a market pear. The trees of this variety are 

 inclined to overbear, and severe thinning has to be practiced in most 

 seasons. 



It is the opinion of Mr. Schattenberg that pear growing in western 

 Texas on a commercial scale is a profitable venture when the under- 



