Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-08-18
PRACTICAL FARMING.
How to Grow Pears

How to Grow Pears.
| The flavor of fruit has compare
lively little to- do with its value fo
| commercial fruit growing, but in tn,
nome garden 1t is or ought to be. tn,
hrst consideration. The man VIII,
grows fruit for home use wants RI,
best. 1t will not pay him to grow an,
other. There is no reason why h,
should not have the best. Many high.
quality varities can be grown with a.
ntsle difficulty as the inferior sort:
that the groceries and fruit stands Of
fer. In most cases it is simply q mat.
| ter of picking out the right sorts an(
| giving them the right care. Quality ir
| pears covers wider range than dual.
| lty In most other fruits. The long list
OF adjectives used by pomologists in
their formal descriptions of pears
sugary, vinous, buttery. melting, per-
fulned rich and many others-gives
some hint of the great range Of flavors
in pears. Thousands of choice varie-
ties of pears have been introduced by
the Flemish and the French. Of the
eighty varieties recommended for cul.
ture in the United States by the
American Pathological Society in its
last report, thirty-four originated in
France and Belgium, and thirty three
in this country. We in America have
developed large number of excellent
varieties but most Of them have come
to us as chance seedlings, rather than
the result Of Mt
breeding
Even when man has selected a
number of quality varieties that thrive
In his locality, that ripen in succession
so that he will have pears from early
August to late April Cat least in
Northern States). and that suit his
tastes, he has made only a beginning.
The most toothsome variety of pear
becomes of Indifferent quality if it is
not we'll grown. The quality of all
kinds of fruits in influenced to a
marked degree by. congenial or uncon-
genial soil. good or poor care That
this is more true of pears than of most
other fruits is beyond question. Even
our own unsurpassed Seckel becomes
insipd and woody if the tree is ne
elected and poorly nourished. Angou-
lene is very good quality pear when
grown to a large size, under favorable
conditions; yet I have attempted to
eat Angouleme pears that We're as
juiceless and stringy as a dry shredded
wheat biscuit. All varieties tend to
become more or less woody, stringy,
gritty, astringent, dry and everything
else that is abominable in pear, in
proportion as they are not happy in
their environment. More than one
short-sighted fruit-grower has planted
variety of pear said to be Of ex-
quisite quality, neglected it and judged
fruits it produced. Then he breathed
forth a tale of woe to his neighbors
about the dishonesty of nurserymen
and the worthlessness of that particu-
lar variety. That is not fair play,
either to the nurseryman or to the va
riety.
If the home fruit-gorwer wants
quality pears, he must make UP his
mind at the outset to give his trees
quality care-otherwise his palate will
not be tickled as much as he expects.
Quality care consists first in making
the tree Comfortable" by tillage and
fertiIizing; second. in encouraging 4
well-balanced development of fruit
bearing surface by judicious pruning:
third in warding off the various in
sects and diseases that might attack
the tree or fruit, by spraying and 9TH
er devices
1T will not be possible to give atten-
ton to the tillage, fertilizing and prun-
ing of pears at this time. None OF
these operations, however, is difficult
to understand or to carry out by the
amateur whose heart is in his home,
as it ought to be, and who desires TO
make the orchard-a part of that home
yield the largest measure of profit
and happiness to himself ard his fam
iiy, Usually it is more question OF
interest than of skill-for skill results
from intelligent interest. The princi-
pies of tillage, fertilizing and pruning
are the same as for other fruit trees.
The insect and disease problem. how
ever, is more important even than till
age. fertilizing and pruning, for the
reason that large number OF hlgh
quality pears are not grown at all, or
to very limited extent, solely because
of their susceptibility to certain dis
eases. If there is a satisfactory meth
cd of controlling these diseases, we can
enrich our list of varieties with the
highest products of French and Flem-
ISL skill.
One of the most important of pear
diseases is the scab. which makes ugly,
black spots on the fruit and brown,
dead spots on the leaves. In severe
cases it cracks the fruit rake up
Downing's '"Fruits and Fruit-trees or
America" or ThOmas's american
Fruit Culturist.' and read of the
havoc that this disease wrought on
some of the high-class European va
rietics during the early days of their
introduction into this country. Inc
significant remark that follows the de-
scriptjon of Flemish Beauty in the lat
for volume: Its value has become
much lessened Of late years by the
cracking of the fruit" is repeated with
varying degrees Of emphasis after
many other variety descriptions.
There was time when 1t was
thought that these beautiful old Flem-