LUTHER BURBANK 



in temperate climates. It often requires from 

 ten to twenty years for seedlings of the pear to 

 come to their first fruiting. The matter may be 

 forced a little by grafting the pear cions on quince 

 stock, but while this makes them fruit earlier, it 

 also tends to dwarf them, and I do not recommend 

 this as a general practice, though highly desirable 

 for special purposes. 



Whoever has not patience to wait had best not 

 undertake experiments with the pear. 



With a tree of such slow development, it is 

 peculiarly desirable to make no mistakes in select- 

 ing seedlings for preservation. Judgment as to 

 the future tree must be based, as with other fruit, 

 largely on its growth, and the appearance of the 

 foliage. Pear seedlings that have an abundance 

 of large leaves, and strong, thick, short-jointed 

 wood, and thick, fat buds, are those to be selected. 

 But this is not by any means as sure an indication 

 of superior fruit in the pear as in most of our cul- 

 tivated fruit, for the reason that Van Mons and 

 other workers in this line have mostly sought 

 early-bearing and fine quality of -fruit, neglecting 

 the foliage and growth of the tree almost fully. 

 The Effect of New Blood 



I grew great quantities of pear seedlings from 

 seed imported in 1884 from Japan. The selected 

 seedlings of this original stock have enormous, 



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