October, 1907 



AMERI 



CAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



IX 



THE SUBURBAN PEAR TREE 



By E. P. I'owell 



THE pear tree is more vital than the 

 apple tree, outliving it with the same 

 care, so much so that we find trees in 

 Michigan planted by some of the old French 

 settlers as long ago as the founding of De- 

 troit and Philadelphia. Downing describes 

 a pear tree which he knew in Illinois that 

 was ten feet in circumference one foot above 

 the ground and nine feet above the ground 

 was more than two feet in diameter. Its 

 branches extended sixty-nine feet. In 1834 

 it yielded one hundred and eighty-four bushels, 

 and in 1840 one hundred and forty bushels. 

 These wide-spreading pear trees are admir- 

 able for shade as well as for fruit. We have 

 in our popular list for the orchard quite a 

 number that make excellent lawn trees. I 

 am specially fond of a group of buffums, both 

 for shade and for autumn coloring. 



The modern evolution of the pear tree be- 

 gan, in the United States, with Marshall P. 

 Wilder, of Boston and Dorchester. His pear 

 orchard, in 1840, contained twenty-five hun- 

 dred trees, representing eight hundred varie- 

 ties. At one time he exhibited four hundred 

 and four varieties, and during his life tested 

 twelve hundred. Closely associated with his 

 name must be that of Patrick Barry, of 

 Rochester. The more recent workers have 

 been busy collecting chance seedlings and im- 

 porting from Europe, especially from lower 

 Russia. Mr. Worden, who gave us the Wor- 

 den grape, has originated the Worden-Seckel 

 pear, of superb quality ; and Mr. S. Fox, of 

 California, has added to our list two or three 

 winter pears of great value — the best of all 

 being Patrick Barry. Among the recent in- 

 troductions I consider the Fame, the Snyder, 

 the King Karl and the Alamo among the best. 

 The Lincoln Coreless is a worthless affair; 

 but another Lincoln, a very different pear, is 

 an admirable fruit. 



We still need a winter pear as good as 

 Nelis and as handsome as Bartlett — a pear 

 that will keep in our bins alongside apples, 

 and ripen up perfectly from March until May. 

 Patrick Barry will meet this need if top 

 grafted, but on its own roots it is a wretched 

 grower. In the Southern States a new breed 

 of pears is being evolved from the Chinese 

 stock. Beside the Kieffer and the LeConte, 

 I find in Florida the Smith, the Stone and the 

 Magnolia, all of them of excellent quality, 

 and adaptable to semi-tropic climate and sandy 

 soil. It is not true, however, that many of our 

 very choicest Northern-grown pears can not 

 be grown in the South, if properly mulched. 



A thoroughly good list of pears, considering 

 both tree and fruit, would be Tyson, Wilder, 

 Bartlett and Souvenir Da Congres for sum- 

 mer. For autumn I should select Sheldon, 

 Seckel, Howell, Onondaga and Flemish 

 Beauty. The last named must be very care- 

 fully sprayed with Bordeaux, early in the 

 season, or its fruit will crack. The Onon- 

 daga can hardly be ranked as the highest in 

 quality, but its growth is superb, and its crop 

 is always clean and abundant. Close after 

 these I would place Frederick Clapp, Hardy, 

 Superfin and Hoosic. For early winter I 

 should prefer Lawrence and Anjou, and 

 for late winter the Josephine. The Lawrence 

 is a straggling tree and short lived ; the Anjou 

 is not only one of the most noble of pears, 

 but the tree is perfect in its form and healthy. 

 If this list must be reduced, I should select 

 Tyson and Bartlett, followed by Sheldon and 

 Seckel, and these followed by Anjou and 

 Lawrence. 



You can not idealize the shape of a pear 

 tree. No other fruit so varies in the style of 

 growth, from the round-headed Seckel, the 



Before putting up this season's screens, remember that it isn't the 

 frame that makes the screen — it's the material within the frame which 

 will spell the difference between comfort and discomfort for you this 

 summer. 



Spend this summer undisturbed by flies, mosquitoes and other insects, 

 by screening your doors and windows with Pompeiian Bronze Wire 

 Cloth because 



it affords absolute protection against insects; 

 it can't rust; 



it offers no obstruction to light and air; 

 it is practically invisible; 

 it is indestructible ; 



it will never lose its color, either by chipping, wear, fading 

 or other causes; 



it is immune against the corrosive action of salt air. 



Pompeiian Bronze Wire Cloth, of which we are the originators and sole manufacturers, is made 

 of an alloy of copper, aluminum, and other non-corrosive materials, and combines the durability of 

 these materials with the toughness and elasticity of steel. 



Pompeiian Bronze Wire Cloth is woven on our improved power looms, which insures accuracy 

 and uniformity of the meshes in warp and filling. 



Pompeiian Bronze If^ire Cloth is in color a facsimile of the ancient Pompeiian bronzes, and is 

 so delicately shaded as to render the cloth almost invisible. The color is produced by the combination 

 of the materials entering into the wire and not by paint or lacquer. 



Pompeiian Bronze Wire Cloth is for sale by all leading hardware dealers. 



Packets containing samples of Pompeiian Bronze Wire Cloth can be secured free by writing to Department K. 

 We strongly advise sending for one before installmg screens, as it may be the means of making this summer a more 

 comfortable one. 



CLINTON WIRE CLOTH COMPANY 



13 Adams Street, CLINTON, MASS. 



Complete Outfit 



Hand and 

 Foot Power 

 cTVlachinery 



Our No. 3 Wood Turning Lathe 



can be speeded from 1 ,000 to 2,000 

 revolutions a minute with perfedt ease. 

 Stopped or reversed at will of operator. 



WRITE FOR PARTICULARS 



W* F* & John Barnes Co* 



567 RUBY ST. 



ROCKFORD, ILL. 



