130 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



of a good margin when the fruit can be sent by 

 the ton and at the lowest rates obtainable, but 

 where the trees are fully developed and in 

 prolific condition the results yield a substantial 

 profit. It must, however, be remembered that 

 such trees cannot be raised in a few years; it 

 requires half an average human life to bring 

 them to their prime, and they indicate the truth 

 of the saying: "He who plants Pears, plants 

 for his heirs ". Still, it is well to be the heir or 

 successor to men who have had the foresight to 

 plant such fruit-trees, and there are many who 

 are conducting profitable market businesses at 

 the present time, who have ample reason to 

 rejoice that their predecessors were not influ- 

 enced by the same ideas as the individual who 

 objected to provide for posterity because pos- 

 terity had done nothing for him. 



The second class mentioned includes not only 

 the best Pears grown specially for market or to 

 supply the fruiterers in the large cities, but it 

 also comprises a quantity of private - garden 

 produce — either the surplus from the family's 

 requirements, or where, from reductions in 

 income, or changes owing to deaths, the garden 

 is let and the whole of the produce is sold. In 

 the latter case, when there may be a large 

 extent of wall space covered with well-grown 

 Pear-trees and the rent is moderate, the culti- 

 vator will have a good chance to succeed. 

 Obviously, it would never answer to rent such 

 gardens at their residential value, or to pay 

 interest on the outlay which had been incurred 

 for private purposes only. 



Between the two extreme classes named large 

 quantities of British-grown Pears are sent into 

 our home markets of decidedly inferior quality, 

 and in a condition that only serves to heighten 

 by contrast the carefully-selected, tastefully and 

 securely-packed samples which reach us from 

 the Continent and America. There is scarcely 

 a market of any importance where, during the 

 autumn months, home-grown Pears cannot be 

 seen just as they have been gathered into 

 bushel or other baskets, unsorted and displaying 

 very little more care on the part of the seller 

 than would be bestowed upon Potatoes or 

 Onions. Yet often the varieties are as good as, 

 or better than, those which are commanding far 

 higher prices for foreign growers, and in the 

 majority of instances include fine samples, so 

 that if one-half of the fruits had been rejected 

 before paying carriage upon them the prices 

 might have been increased three- or four-fold. 

 This has so frequently been pointed out, and 

 the evidence is so clear to those who observe 



market results closely, and who have a moderate 

 experience in the sale of fruit, that it is surpris- 

 ing the matter should be so persistently ignored. 

 The cultivator's best efforts are heavily handi- 

 capped by neglect in the details referred to — 

 in fact, what British growers have to learn in 

 many cases, is not how to produce the finest 

 fruit, but how to place it on the markets to the 

 best advantage. Improvement of a most im- 

 portant character could be effected in this direc- 

 tion as regards the bulk of the Pear crop in the 

 United Kingdom, and it is mainly by attention 

 to this, and by reducing the cost of production 

 to the lowest point of efficiency, that the keen 

 competition from outside our islands can be met 

 with a prospect of success. Commercial fruit- 

 growing cannot be treated as a hobby or an 

 amusement merely ; if it is expected to yield the 

 profits of a business, it must be conducted on 

 the most exact business lines, and this is espe- 

 cially applicable to the culture of Pears for 

 market at the present time. 



Foreign Trade in Pears. — A brief review of 

 the methods adopted by our chief foreign rivals, 

 and the condition of the industry in their hands, 

 should furnish some ideas of service to home 

 growers. France has for many years been a 

 formidable competitor in the production of 

 Pears, and such quantities of well-grown, se- 

 lected, and carefully-packed fruits have been 

 placed on our leading markets, that prices and 

 sales have been proportionately reduced for 

 home growers. The closest attention has been 

 paid to the production of Pears on the most 

 economical systems, and the successful examples 

 have been followed, modified or improved, by 

 cultivators in other countries more readily than 

 by our own, who have yet been chiefly concerned 

 in the results of the competition. In recent 

 years the French growers have had to contend 

 with the Calif ornian producers, and have suffered 

 somewhat in the contest, but substantial returns 

 are still obtained in all the best districts. The 

 extent to which Pears are grown in some dis- 

 tricts of France may be judged from the state- 

 ment that upwards of 700 tons of this fruit 

 have been sent away in a season from one 

 station (Angers) between July and January. 

 In the same district Pears are also propagated 

 in great numbers to supply continental growers 

 chiefly, indeed it is placed on record by an 

 excellent authority, that of five varieties alone 

 135,000 trees are annually budded and grafted. 

 At the head of these is Easter Beurre\ of which 

 40,000 are produced, Duchesse d'Angouleme, 

 Williams' Bon Chretien, and Louise Bonne fol- 



