PEARS FOR PROFIT. 



NOTES FROM A SUCCESSFUL HUDSON RIVER GROWER BEFORE THE OSWEGO HORTICULTURAL INSTITUTE. 



HE PEAR is still essentially 

 a luxury, and all luxuries 

 are profitable to grow when 

 one knows how to handle 

 them. Pear culture, in com- 

 'll mon with all fruit culture, 

 is increasing, yet the condi- 

 tions for successful pear 

 growing are so local that 

 there is little danger that the business will ever be 

 overdone. 



A high site is essential to successful pear culture. 

 Better drainage is thereby secured, trees ripen their 

 wood earlier in the fall and are therefore hardier 

 than on low soils, trees are usually longer lived, and 

 fungous troubles are commonly less. The ideal soil 

 is a strong clay loam with a gravelly loam sub-soil, 

 but any strong loam is good. Dwarfs usually de- 

 mand heavier soils than standards. 



Heavy^ fertilizing is imperative. The ideal fer- 

 tilizing is that which induces a good growth, but 

 which causes the wood to ripen early. Stable ma- 

 nures in large quantities induce a late growth if ap- 

 plied in the spring. It is therefore essential that it 

 be applied in the fall, in order that its soluble in- 

 gredients may become incorporated with the soil 

 and be ready for use as soon as the tree starts in 

 the spring. I obtain best results by using both 

 stable and commercial fertilisers. In concentrated 

 manures, I use chiefly unleached wood ashes and 

 prepared bone. Fertilizers rich' in potash are ne- 

 cessary. Kainit and muriate of potash are also ex- 

 cellent. 



Pear orchards must have good culture if they are to 

 yield well. I give my orchards clean culture through- 

 out their existence. I would never put a pear or- 

 chard into grass. I never cultivate after the middle 

 of July or first of August. At the last cultivation 

 it is a good plan to sow rye, which is turned under 

 the next spring. Dwarf pears demand exceedingly 

 light culture. 



Young trees — yearlings or two-year-olds — are best 

 for setting. It is a good plan to buy the trees a 

 year before they are to be set into the orchard. 

 These should be set in nursery rows, where they 

 can be cultivated frequently, and when planting time 

 comes the thrifty and symmetrical trees should be 



selected for the orchard. In this manner uniform 

 orchards can be secured. If the trees are pur- 

 chased when a year old, it may also be the cheapest 

 plan. When the trees are placed in the orchard, 

 all side branches should be removed or cut back to 

 one or two buds, and all vigorous leaders should be 

 headed back. 



I should advise that all standards, except Seckel, 

 should be set 25 feet apart each way. Seckels may 

 be set as close as 20 feet. I think that 20 feet each 

 way is none too much for dwarfs, when they are 

 trained in the pyramidal form. 



Pears demand httle severe pruning. During the 

 first four or five years the shape of the top should 

 be determined. The general policy is to make the 

 trees spread and to keep the center open, in order 

 to throw the bearing wood well to the outside of the 

 top. Subsequent pruning consists in an annual 

 light thinning out of the top. Dwarfs require spe- 

 cial treatment. The upright growth should be cut 

 back about two-thirds each year, and the trees there- 

 fore never become tall. The lateral growth should 

 be encouraged. This treatment results in. a pyra- 

 midal or umbrella-shaped top. 



It cannot be stated unreservedly which are the 

 better, standards or dwarfs. It is a matter of men 

 and conditions. Upon the right soil, and particu- 

 larly with the right man to handle them, dwarfs are 

 profitable ; but most people will succeed better with 

 standards. Dwarfs should be set deep and the 

 heads should be kept very low. The bead of a stan- 

 dard should start at four or five feet. 



I spray my pear orchards [with paris green, the 

 same as I do my apples and plums. I should not 

 think of growing pears without spraying. I not 

 only destroy the codlin moth, but the slug and 

 other insects. 



The fruit must be thinned, if the best results are 

 sought. I cut the fruits off with shears when they 

 are the size of cherries. I have found that boys do 

 this work better than men, because they are not 

 afraid of removing too many fruits. The work 

 must be thoroughly done. The increased size of 

 the remaining fruit will usually make a larger bulk 

 than the whole of a heavy crop would have made, 

 and it will bring a much better price. 



The fruit must be handled carefully from the time 



