106 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 
time to prune the pear is important. If the work is done too early in the 
winter, injury may result to the tissues near the wound from cold or from 
checking. If done late in the spring when sap is flowing, the wound becomes 
wet and sticky and is a suitable place for the growth of fungi and the blight 
bacterium. 
The pear is as easily grafted as any other pome, and the operation is 
more certain and more often desirable than with any of the stone-fruits. 
Almost any method of grafting used with orchard fruits is successful with 
the pear. But the pear is not often grafted in this State after the tree has 
been set in the orchard. The great objection is that the vigorous growth 
made by grafts is nearly always nipped by blight. Possibly the lack of 
affinity between different varieties is more pronounced than with other 
pomes. The common European varieties cannot be inter-worked without 
experimental knowledge of how one variety will grow on another, and it is 
almost impossible to intergraft common varieties with the oriental hybrids. 
The temptation is strong in this State to graft such sorts as Bartlett and 
Seckel on Kieffer. This combination is seldom successful; nor, as a rule, 
can other European pears be grafted on Kieffer, although some growers have 
succeeded fairly well in growing Seckel on Kieffer. 
Thinning the fruit is not a common practice in pear-growing in this 
State. There is no doubt but that much might be done to improve pears 
in both size and quality by thinning, for be it remembered that large size 
of fruit and high quality are usually correlated in pears. Thinning often 
saves the vigor of the tree, and it is often good orchard management to 
destroy insect- or disease-infected fruit by thinning. The objection is high 
cost. Most growers, however, find that it pays to thin. Thinning is 
usually done as soon as possible after the June drop. It is most difficult 
to tell, when thinning, what will prove superfluity at harvest. A skilled 
grower adjusts the size of the crop to the variety, the vigor of the tree, 
fertility and moisture in the ground, the season, and insects and fungi. 
Thinning should begin in the winter with the removal of what seem to 
be superfluous branches, for even at this time fruit-prospects for the ensuing 
season are fore-shadowed. 
HARVESTING AND MARKETING 
Fruit-growing is made up of several quite distinct phases of activity; 
as, propagation, culture, pruning, pests, harvesting, and marketing. 
Treated in detail, each of these several operations constitutes matters quite 
