50 ORCHARD FRUITS IN VIRGINIA AND OTHER STATES. 



PEARS. 



Pear culture is not a commercial industry in any portion of the 

 Piedmont or Blue Ridge regions. There are a few orchards of con- 

 siderable size at widely separated points, but the aggregate of the 

 fruit produced is relatively small and of little consequence con- 

 sidered from the standpoint of supplying any extensive market 

 demands. Only a small number of the more common varieties are 

 being cultivated. Brief mention of the most important ones follows. 



VARIETIES. 



Angouleme. Synonym: Duchesse de Angouleme. 



Trees 10 or 12 years old of this variety are giving promising results in Bedford 

 County, Va., where they are growing on Porters clay at 1,500 feet elevation. Har- 

 vesting usually occurs from the first to the middle of September. 

 Bartlett. 



This variety occurs occasionally in the Piedmont region of Virginia, but only very 

 rarely in any other section of the territory under consideration. It has been observed 

 at but one point in the Blue Ridge. The chief difficulty with this variety is the 

 susceptibility of the tree to blight. This disease is frequently very severe at the 

 points where the variety has been observed. The fruit grown in these regions ripens 

 from the middle of August to the middle of September, as influenced primarily by 

 the elevation at which it is produced. 



Excellent fruit is grown where the trees remain in good condition in the Piedmont 

 region of Virginia. It has been located in one mountain orchard in North Carolina 

 at an elevation of 3,500 feet or more on a friable loam, where it is evidently fairly 

 satisfactory. The only other point in the latter State from which this variety has 

 been reported is in the Piedmont region with an elevation of about 1,100 feet. Here 

 the blight has been so severe that the variety has been practically discarded. 

 Clapp Favorite. 



Notes relating to Angouleme apply also to this variety, except that it is earlier 

 and the tree is very subject to blight. 

 Garber. 



This variety has been observed only on Cecil sandy loam at about 1,000 feet alti- 

 tude in Virginia. It appears to be well adapted to these conditions, producing 

 excellent crops of fruit for the variety. Harvesting occurs from the middle of Sep- 

 tember to early October. The tree apparently is not particularly subject to blight. 

 Kieffer. 



There are but a small number of large commercial plantings of this variety, but it 

 is generally distributed in small lots throughout the Piedmont region. However, it 

 is the only variety in these regions that is grown to any extent for market purposes. 

 It has not been commonly planted in the mountains. The tree grows well and bears 

 abundantly on all the Piedmont soils; the fruit develops satisfactorily, and where 

 well cared for and properly handled it develops a higher dessert quality than it does 

 under many conditions, especially at northern latitudes. This applies especially to 

 points in the southern portion of the Piedmont. The orchards in North Carolina 

 having altitudes of 3,500 feet or more are evidently above the range of its satisfactory 

 development. While the trees make a good growth at these elevations and bear 

 heavy crops, the fruit assumes the characteristics of northern-grown specimens. 

 The texture of the fruit at these high points is hard and woody, the color less attractive, 

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