THE PEAR 117 



excellence of English and Jersey pears was forcibly brought out at the great 

 Hardy Fruit Show held by the Royal Horticultural Society at the Crystal 

 Palace in 1901, where an excellent collection of hardy fruit, chiefly pears, was 

 exhibited by a Jersey firm. Excepting a few dishes where the specimens were 

 larger, the best English samples on view were equal in every respect to the 

 Jersey ones. 



A great improvement in the methods of cultivating the pear has been quietly 

 taking place for years — ever since the Quince has been substituted for the Pear 

 stock for grafting and budding. It is an old saying (and was a true one) that 

 " he who plants pears plants for his heirs." This no longer is the case, how- 

 ever, as the pear worked on the Quince will yield fruit in half the time it 

 takes when grown on the Pear stock. This fact has already done much to 

 encourage pear tree planting, and has resulted in a generally improved quality 

 in the fruit. Another point of importance is that the old belief that a warm 

 wall was absolutely necessary for successful pear culture is exploded ; it has 

 been proved that a great number of our choicest varieties, formerly thought 

 to require a wall to bring them to perfection, can be grown better, certainly as 

 regards flavour, in the open garden ; and this fact when widely known will, I 

 trust, be the means of increasing pear growers in this country a hundred-fold, 

 especially in the warmer counties where conditions are favourable. 



PEAR TREES ON WALLS 



Although, as I have already stated, a wall is now proved not to be 

 indispensable to successful pear culture, there are varieties of great excellence 

 which can only be grown successfully on walls, even in the south of England ; 

 in the Midlands and the north the wall would be still more necessary. 



Soil. — The first question to engage the planter's attention must be the 

 nature of the soil he has to deal with, and, next, the drainage. Should the land 

 be either heavy clay or poor light soil it should be cleared away to a depth of 

 2j feet and 9 feet wide for each tree, and filled in again with good turf. Add 

 a small quantity of road scrapings, lime and mortar rubble, two barrow-loads of 

 horse manure, and one bushel of ;J-inch bone manure to each cartload of soil. 

 The turf should be left in pieces the size of half a brick ; mix the soil well 

 before planting. This amount of soil will suffice for the tree's requirements 

 for many years. If the existing soil is good the land should be trenched 2| feet 

 deep and 9 feet wide, some of the worst soil thrown out, and fresh soil mixed 

 as advised above. Keep the new soil fairly near the surface. Should the 

 drainage be unsatisfactory, then means must be taken to improve it as advised 

 for peach borders. 



Forms of Trees. — Horizontal and fan-trained trees are usually planted 

 against walls, and of the two I prefer the latter, as I believe a more regular and 

 better crop is obtained by this mode of training, especially when the trees become 

 old. However, the pear succeeds well both ways. Where the land is poor and 

 light and the wall of a good height, and one wishes the tree to cover a large 



