HORTICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT SAN ANTONIO. io 
Some few plantings of pears have been made in the vicinity of 
San Antonio and have given varied results. The soils richest 1m. 
lime, especially those with limestone gravel very near the surface, 
are not adapted to the culture of pears. The following varieties have 
been tested: Bartlett, Kieffer, Kruger, Le Conte, Magnolia, Russet, 
Sand, Smith, Vermont Beauty, and Early Wilder. 
From the behavior of these varieties 1t would appear that the pear 
is less promising than the peach and the plum. The trees respond 
vigorously to a slight increase in altitude. Black lands lying north 
of San Antonio can produce successfully fruit of the Le Conte and 
Kieffer varieties, the latter being the more successful. Either of these 
varieties appears to succeed best when worked on Le Conte seedling 
stock. A recent oriental introduction of wild pear is being tested, 
which gives promise of exceptional value as a stock for species of 
Pyrus or Malus grown in this soil. 
Pears in this locality are not free’ from the disease known as pear 
twig-blight, but climatic conditions are such that the disease is not 
severely destructive, and many seasons pass without its appearance, 
even in infected orchards. 
Mr. Schattenberg, of Boerne, has been testing pears since 1892 and 
during the period has grown a large number of varieties. Boerne is 
located at an elevation of about 1,400 feet, about 700 feet higher 
than San Antonio, and though the rainfall is somewhat greater the 
soil is very similar. Mr. Schattenberg believes that from a com- 
mercial standpoint the pear is more promising than any other fruit 
in sections having similar conditions. 
As a class the European varieties do not fruit well, and the fruit is 
of such poor quality that difficulty is found in marketing the crop. 
There are, however, a few exceptions to this, as, for instance, the 
Bartlett, Howell, Duchess, and Guyot varieties. The Bartlett and 
Angouleme develop such awkward shapes and grow so large that they 
are frequently unmarketable. The Howell, when dwarfed by work- 
ing on quince root, is a valuable variety. The best of them all, how- 
ever, is the Guyot. 
The oriental hybrids are the best and most reliable. While rather 
low in quality, they bear regularly and abundantly. Mr. Schatten- 
berg believes that the Kieffer is the best of this group. Besides the 
Kieffer the other varieties recommended are the Le Conte, Smith, 
Garber, Katy (of Texas), Golden Russet, and Magnolia, but for 
profitable commercial orcharding the Kieffer is far superior to all 
others in quality and as a market pear. The trees of this variety are 
inchned to overbear, and severe thinning has to be practiced in most 
seasons. 
It is the opinion of Mr. Schattenberg that pear growing in western 
Texas on a commercial scale is a profitable venture when the under- 
