The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1906-01-26
THE BEARING OF TREES.
Some Experiences That
Should TO be Beneficial

Of Noble, before Tie board & agticul
ture last week:
In common with many others among
you. perhaps, ! grew up in the belief
that It required a considerable part OF
a lifetime TO bring Eear trees into bear
ing, and that he who planted a. pear
tree could not reasonably expect &c
reap much benefit from its fruits. but
might possibly bestow more or less Of
a blessing upon posterity. The sub
stantial returns seemed so far, far, in
TO the future as to be almost entirely
obscured and being so thoroughly
possessed Of this idea II Is easily be-
lieved that my enthusiasm on the sub
iect Of pear culture was somewhere
below fever heat would occasion
ally see few pears In the fruit stands
or meet the vaporated or preserved
- csss.,ict In various forms, but to me
the place where pears actually grew
was more or less vague and fabulous
might well be likened to the pot OF
gold at the fsot Of the rainbow. al
ways little further over.
Only few years ago when the pear
teees in our part Of the country
cleveland county began to bear lit
tie fruit | regarded the mattoe as
more Of curiosity than otherwise.
and while believed Oklahoma was a
good place to raise berries. peaches,
plums, grapes. cherries. and possibly
a few varieties of apples, the idea that
we could grow pears successfully had
about as much consideration with me
as II oranges or bananas were the
fruit in question These ideas, am
very proud to admit. have been liter
ally torn from my mind on the INSTALL
ment plan. Another year the young
trees bore few more pears, soon
began u meet with people who said.
"Oh yes, my pear trees bear every
year and the matter wss finally pre-
sented tc nc as Il really is. and be
gan to realize that we can grow pears
in commercial way. and may reas-
onabiy expect good return for all the
time, attention and money that we
viii intelIigently bestow upon our pear
orchards.
It Is true that we may encounter
some difficulties in this line as well
as in all other pursuits. and it may
well be part of my province to dis
cuss some OF these In connection with
other features.
The subject may wen divide itself
into number Of heads, viz:
!. Soil selection. fs,
2. Preparation Of soil
3. Selection and planting OF trees.
4. Subsequent care OF trees.
g. Handling and marketing the
fruit. .i6z
Pears seem to thrive on great
variety OF soils; In fact, they are fruit
ing on the sand hills Of the river banks
and the hsrdpan lands OF the fiat prair-
les. and on all the intermediate quali-
ties OF Soil whether high or low. Per
haps the best soil for them is that
which Is moderately fertile. and which
contains sand enough in its makeup
80 that It tilIs easily. and yet has
firm clay sub-soil within one or two
feet of the surface: not the kind that
the new settler found IN digging post
holes on his clairs, when ON going
down o few inches he struck log.
then he moved over a few inches and
struck il again, and on going rod
further down the line TO another place
he struck II again and finaAy concluJ-
ed that in prehistoric times there must
have been an exceeding heavy growth
OF timber In that part of the country.
and that IL got covered up In more re-
celt years Yet the pear viii thrive
better on this kind OF land than most
ffiats, as its roots seem to have rather
better penetrating qualities than some
others II possible. select a plat Of
ground that win be somewhat pro
tected from the winds, as one Of the
dlnculiieg in pear culture is our strong
south Winds in summer The fruit is
borne largely on long slender twigs
md is easily whipped about
Plow the soil deep and work the
surface down firmly Good prepare
ton is quite as essential in orcharjing
as in other branches Of agriculture.
Select for planting, caecky ylgor-
Gus trees one or two years from bud
or graft and Of the varieties known to
be doing wen in your Immediate
nelghborhood. II yearling trees are
selected they should be cut back at
planting time 10 a stem not over