84. THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
In the states in which pear-growing is a commercial industry, commercial 
orchards are confined to localities in which climate, soil, and transporta- 
tion combine to favor the pear. In New York, for example, pears are 
grown for market on a large scale in only ten of the sixty-one counties. 
These, with the number of trees in each, according to the last census are 
as follows: Niagara, 620,743; Monroe, 384,374; Orleans, 377,371; Columbia, 
308,298; Wayne, 305,239; Ulster, 304,158; Greene, 208,885; Oswego, 154,576; 
Ontario, 121,934; Orange, 96,456. 
Over 77 per cent of all the pear-trees in the State are in these coun- 
ties, and 79 per cent of the pears grown in the State are produced in 
these ten counties. The production of pears in New York for the eleven- 
year period from 1909 to 1919, inclusive, show the increase and fluctuation 
in the production of pears in the State for this period. The figures for 
1909 and 1919 are from the thirteenth and fourteenth census reports, 
while those of the intervening years are estimates from the Bureau of 
Crop Estimates of the United States Department of Agriculture. The 
yields run in bushels for the eleven years as follows: 1,343,000, 1,530,000, 
1,886,000, 1,128,000, 2,016,000, 1,298,000, 1,375,000, 1,675,000, 1,708,000, 
1,352,000, and 1,830,237. 
Bartlett and Kieffer are conspicuous leaders among varieties in number 
of trees and in production for the whole country. In the great commercial 
pear-growing regions of New York and California, Bartlett is the favorite 
variety, but Kieffer is grown largely also, especially for canners. In the 
South and in the Mississippi Valley, Kieffer is the leading variety because 
it is relatively resistant to blight and withstands extremes in climate better 
than other varieties. For many years after its introduction about 1870, 
Kieffer was over-praised by both fruit-growers and nurserymen. Fruit- 
growers liked it because of its resistance to blight and great productiveness, 
and nurserymen preferred it to other sorts because it is the easiest of all 
varieties to grow in the nursery. It is, however, so universally condemned 
for its tasteless fruits that it is losing its popularity, and is not now as 
largely planted in competition with Bartlett as it once was. Seckel, Clapp 
Favorite, Winter Nelis, Beurré d’Anjou, Beurré Bosc, Howell, Sheldon, 
Beurré Clairgeau, and Garber for the South, are the standard varieties 
following Bartlett and Kieffer in popularity. 
Bartlett is far in the lead of commercial varieties in New York. At 
present, Kieffer probably holds second place in this State, but its popularity is 
fast waning and Seckel is nearly as commonly planted, if, indeed, it does not 
