94 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
Economic considerations are becoming more and more important in 
choosing sites for all fruits in New York. Transportation facilities, 
including good roads, markets, labor, and packing and selling organizations 
are now more important in the pear regions of the State than the natural 
determinants of soil and climate, since these are so favorable in any of the 
fruit regions in which pears are largely grown. Natural advantages are 
more common than man-made ones, and the pear may be grown on vast 
areas of New York lands so far as climate and soil are concerned, but which 
are wholly unsuited because the economic factors are unfavorable. Sites 
for pear-orchards should be sought for in localities where there are pears 
enough grown for a central packing association; near a shipping center 
where the haul is short and over good roads; the freight service should be 
prompt, regular, and efficient, with low freight and good refrigerator service; 
labor should be abundant and not too expensive; and the markets should 
be several and so located that they are not controlled by growers in regions 
more advantageously situated. 
The pear-grower is becoming more and more concerned with the kind 
of stock upon which his trees are grafted. One or more of several objects 
is sought in working a pear on roots other than its own. The stock may 
be chosen, and most often is, with the single purpose in view of perpetuating 
a variety; it may be selected to dwarf or magnify the size of the cion; 
very often the stock is better adapted to the soil than the cion would be 
on its own roots; the quality of the fruit is sometimes improved by the 
stock; lastly, some stocks are much more resistant to fire-blight than others. 
‘It is this last character of the stock that is now receiving most attention. 
Stock and cion are united either by budding or grafting, with budding 
coming more and more in use. More than with any other fruit, double- 
working is used in propagating pears. For example, the quince stock is 
often preferred to a pear stock. But some varieties of pears do not unite 
well with the quince, in which case a sort which makes a good union with 
the quince is first budded or grafted on the stock, and when this cion has 
grown to sufficient size, it is top-worked to the desired variety. According 
to the size of the mature plant, pear-trees are designated as dwarfs and 
standards, the difference in size being brought about by the stock. Dwarf 
trees are usually grown on quince stocks; standards, on pear stocks. 
Dwarfing pear-trees is an old practice, having been in use in Europe 
at least 300 years. During this time the use of quince stocks to dwarf 
the pear has been a common practice in France and England. For a 
