Part 3

Much depends on the season, soil and situation. In a cold season, even pears of good quality are only fit for cooking. Thus used, they are often excellent. The sweetest of all pears is Comte de Lamy. Dana's Hovey (of American origin) is perhaps its equal. D. du Comice, B. Hardy, Marie Louise, Josephine de Malines, Winter Nelis, Bon Chrétien, B. Superfin, Thompson's, Fondante d'Automne, are among the best. A warm autumn makes a vast difference. B. Diel then becomes first rate, so do Passe Crassanne, Olivier de Serres, Bergamotte Esperen, B. d'Anjou, B. Sterkmans, and others.

COOKING PEARS

Growers should keep in mind that dessert pears often cook well if gathered before they are ripe. Stewed pears are excellent food in every way; pears that do not ripen well can be utilised thus. There are special sorts pre-eminently good. Verulam and Bellissime d'Hiver, very fertile as bushes or cordons, keep and cook well. Catillac and Uvedale's St Germain are very large, the latter often enormous; the fruit sometimes exceeds 2 lb. if the tree is well fed. The two last are spreading as bushes, but do well as cordons. Bellissime d'Hiver was the favourite C. pear of the famous Dr Hogg. Vicar of Winkfield is also good, but not so lasting. Cooking pears should begin in September and last until April. B. Clairgeau is regarded by the R.H.S. as a cooking pear. It is free-bearing and handsome, but not lasting. Directeur Alphand (new) is described as very large, but needs sun to ripen.

EARLY PEARS

These are not important (except for sale), as so many fruits of other kinds are usually abundant. Doyenné d'Été is the first in. Double-grafted on the Quince, it is very fertile. Next comes Citron des Carmes, a great French favourite. The fruit of this is said to be fine when the tree is double-grafted. Crawford, a favourite Scotch pear, is regarded as its superior north of the Tweed. Jargonelle is also a Scotch favourite, especially in Perth, where every vacant wall space is said to be soon occupied by this pear. It is grown, too, as a standard on the free stock, but does not love the Quince. If double-grafted, the leading shoot pinched as well as the side shoots two or three times in the season, it will bear well. Beacon and B. Giffard are also August pears. Later on come Clapp's Favourite, Bon Chrétien, and many others. Early sorts should be gathered before they are ripe. Mr G. Bunyard recommends that early pears as well as early apples should be laid in heaps, covered with nettles or straw, and "sweated," to improve their appearance. They are said to colour well treated thus.

LATE PEARS

Are often worthless until they are in the kitchen; yet a warm autumn makes some of them delicious. The best of all is Josephine de Malines. The tree does well as a standard or bush, and the demand for the fruit is sometimes great. With care it will last to March. Next comes Winter Nelis, not so hardy; then follow Nouvelle Fulvie, Madame Millett, Passe Crassanne, Olivier de Serres, Easter Beurré, and B. Rance. A new sort, President Barabé, has received a First Class Certificate from the R.H.S. Late varieties must be allowed on the trees as long as possible, and be _well_ protected from birds. Great care must be taken in handling and storing. Bruised pears soon rot.

PEARS FOR COTTAGERS AND SMALL FARMERS

The following were selected in 1892 by the R.H.S. on the advice of forty experts: _for eating_, Jargonelle, Bon Chrétien, B. d'Amanlis, Louise Bonne, Durondeau, Marie Louise, D. du Comice, Pitmaston Duchess; _for_ _cooking_, B. Clairgeau, Catillac, Uvedale's St Germain, Verulam. But Marie Louise is a poor and uncertain bearer.

SYNONYMS

When fruit trees have numerous names, they certainly are popular, probably good.

Passe Colmar has twenty-eight, chiefly French; grown in a rich warm soil it is a first-rate dessert pear (November). The tree is vigorous and makes a good pyramid.

B. Diel has thirteen: among the French it is Beurré Magnifique. It requires a good season here.

Uvedale's St Germain (Belle Angevine of the French) has twenty-two, chiefly French. Yet it was raised in 1690 by Dr Uvedale, a Schoolmaster of Eltham in Kent.

Windsor, a very old English pear, mentioned in 1629, yet of French origin, has eleven. The fruit is large and greenish-yellow, flushed, but soon becomes dry and worthless. In good soil it grows and bears well (August).

White Doyenné has fourteen, a fairly good September and October pear, rather large, a good bearer, "flesh white, but somewhat acrid and gritty" (Barron).

Vicar of Winkfield has twelve. A long large fruit often twisted, fairly good for baking, from November to January, "second rate" (Barron).

B. Rance has six. A long, largish, late pear, sometimes very good.

Wardens, a name given to pears which never melt, are long keeping, and used for cooking only. The name comes from the Cistercian Abbey of Warden in Beds. Parkinson's Warden is now Black Worcester. There are Spanish, White and Red Wardens.

Bishop's Thumb was originally called Bishop's Tongue, It was a favourite in 1690, and is still a favourite. The tree is hardy and a good bearer, the fruit long, firm, melting, sweet (October, November).

Brown Beurré has ten; an old favourite, which requires a wall or very warm site (October).

Chaumontel has nine, requires a very warm climate. Better in Jersey than in Britain.

Easter Beurré has twenty-two, most of them French. Good if grown in good soil and in a good season. It does not grow well on the Quince.

Flemish Beauty has seventeen. The fruit is large and sometimes russetty and flushed crimson; good only when gathered before it is ripe (September and October).

Louise Bonne has seven. Raised at Avranches in Normandy (1788), it curiously is called L. B. of Jersey.

Maréchal de la Cour has six, large and good. "One of the finest" (Dr Hogg).

Napoleon has fourteen. "Second rate" (Barron).

Red Doyenné has eleven, chiefly French. The fruit is superior to White D. (November).

Glou Morceau has twelve or thirteen, chiefly French. It is excellent in a warm soil and site (November and December).

PEARS FOR PERRY

Our people are beginning to discover that we can and ought to make as good Cider and Perry as is made in any country. Mr Radclyffe Cooke in his "Cider and Perry" gives the following list:--

_Early Varieties._

Barland. Moorcroft. Red Pear. Taynton Squash.

_Midsummer._

Langland Yellow and Black Huffcap.

_Late._

Blakeney Red. Butt Pear. Oldfield. Pine Pear. Rock Pear.

Sixty varieties appear in the List sent to the Pear Conference of the R.H.S., October 1885.

GATHERING AND STORING

Mid-Season and late pears should be gathered in dry weather as soon as they come easily from the tree. Lift gently, and gather by degrees as the fruits ripen, those on south side first. Use padded baskets, and treat good fruits with loving care. Beware of piling a large quantity in one basket, of turning or rolling out instead of handling by the stems. With high pyramids Heathman's combined ladder-steps may be needed. Pears should be put away quite dry in a dark and dry place, where the temperature is as even as outside wooden or other walls, and thatch above can make it. Perfect and fine fruit should be wrapped in tissue or other paper and placed singly on shelves or in shallow drawers or boxes. Boxes are excellent for late fruit. For storing they should be only deep enough to hold one layer of fruit. Scott recommends clean bran, others dry silver sand, to put among the fruit so as to absorb any moisture. The ripening may be hastened by placing the fruit in a gently warmed room, or on hot water pipes in a greenhouse. "Sorts dry and tough carefully ripened in warm drawers or on the shelves of a warm cupboard become deliciously melting and rich. A heat from 60° to 70° is about the proper temperature" (Scott). Fruit pecked, bruised, or injured in any way should be kept apart and got rid of without storing. White tissue paper,[6] glazed on one side, the fruit resting on the glazed side with another sheet on the top, the glazed side downwards, is useful where a large amount of fruit is stored on shelves or trays. Orr's Patent Trays, sold by John P. White, Bedford, are excellent for storing. The trays fit on each other, and single trays are readily moved, so that the fruit on each tray can be examined without being handled.

PROTECTION OF FRUIT

As trees must be protected against hares and rabbits, so must fruit be from other enemies. Birds in some seasons are most destructive, attacking the finest fruit, pecking a piece out near the stalk. Such fruit soon decays. Wasps and blue-bottle flies feast on ripe or injured fruit. Mr Cheal in his "Fruit Culture" recommends that galvanised wire netting be put over the whole ground. This may do for small plantations, not for large, nor for places where the trees rise beyond 7 feet. Many use the Cloister Fruit Protector of perforated celluloid. This protects peaches, apples, pears, etc., from birds, wasps and snails, but the cost is heavy. Muslin bags kept carefully from year to year are good. The fruit rests in them and grows. Nets made in different sizes might be put over bush trees on stakes. They last if kept dry. The gardener, too, should have a gun and use it at dawn and daily. Messrs Bunyard recommend a trap like a lobster pot made by Gilbertson & Page, Hertford, to be baited with soaked bread. This trap takes birds alive. The house-sparrow and the bullfinch are the chief, but not the only, enemies. Robins, hedge-sparrows,[7] etc., might be released. Cut ivy carefully back, and encourage winter nets and sparrow clubs. Frost is another foe. Cordons might be protected by hoops covered with tiffany, Russian canvas, mats, or netting; bushes by nets, mats, etc. A movable coping over a wall is often useful. But if strong colonies of bees are close at hand, they will rarely fail to fertilise some blossoms. In fine intervals bees come out in crowds, and do great good. Queen wasps and wasps' nests should be sought and destroyed. Country children will find them for a small reward.

WINTER AND SPRING WASHES

If the fruit-blossoms survive frost, cold winds and rain, enemies of a different kind await them. It is necessary to spray or wash the trees if these enemies are to be kept at bay.

1. The following mixture is recommended by the Board of Agriculture: "To prepare caustic alkali wash, first dissolve 1 lb. of commercial caustic soda in water, then 1 lb. of crude potash (potashes or pearl ash of oilmen) in water. When both have been dissolved, mix the two well together, then add ¾ lb. of soft soap or agricultural treacle, stir well, and add sufficient water to make up 10 gallons." As the wash has a burning effect on the hands, the sprayer should wear gloves and be careful. The Eclair hand-spraying pump, supplied by Clark & Co., 20 Great St Helens, E. C., sends a spray like a mist. The cost is about 35s. We have used it for years, and the same firm repairs it well. This mixture with us, though easily sprayed, has not been a great success. If used, it should be applied in February, just before the buds open.

2. The Bordeaux Mixture is used for spraying by some, and is recommended by Messrs Bunyard. It is a good fungicide as well as insect-enemy. The following is the receipt: Sulphate of copper 6 lbs., unslaked lime 4 lbs., water 50 gallons.

Dissolve the sulphate of copper in a wooden vessel, pouring in sufficient water to cover the coarse bag in which the sulphate should have been placed. Attach the bag by means of a string to a rod placed across the vessel, and let it hang in the water. In another vessel add water gradually to the lime until a thick paste is formed; when cool mix the two together in a third vessel, and add water up to 40, 50 or 60 gallons. If the mixture is properly made, a clean knife blade held for one minute in the solution should remain unchanged; if coated with copper, add more lime until no copper adheres to the blade. Stir the mixture constantly while spraying and use it fresh. Spray the trees when the buds are first expanding. Messrs Bunyard (Fruit Catalogue, 1901-2) recommend "6 lbs. of pure sulphate of copper, 4 lbs. fresh unslaked lime, and 22 gallons of water, the sulphate to be put in a piece of sacking or light cloth, and hung by a string from the top of a barrel containing 18 gallons of water, a few inches below the surface so as to dissolve. Then slack 4 lbs. of fresh lime in as small a quantity of water as possible, the water being added very slowly, until slaking is completed; then slowly make up to 4 gallons. When cool, thoroughly stir and strain slowly the milk of lime into the copper solution, stirring well while mixing for another minute or two; it is then fit for use as a winter spray. It should be used when freshly made, (_a_) Apply before buds start to all fruit trees with the 22 gallons mixture. This can be diluted to a 30, 50 or 60 gallons mixture for spring or summer use. (_b_) Spray again just as the petals drop with the 60 gallons mixture. If made and applied as above (within ten or twenty hours) it adheres closely to the wood and foliage; treacle need not be added." This adhesion is of vast importance, as lime is abhorred by stem-borers (_e.g._, the goat and leopard moths) as well as by all insects. The double application of lime is also helpful. In the United States Paris Green is sometimes added, and is no doubt useful; the proportion must be very small.

3. For many years I have painted my trees in winter with the following mixture: one bushel of lime, half a bushel of soot, a quart of paraffin, a pail of cow dung, a pail of clay; melted grease is sometimes added, and the whole worked into a paint and then put on the trees. Treacle might be substituted for the cow dung and grease. This has proved a valuable preventive. The lime and soot gradually falling off, leave the bark clean, and enrich the soil below. But painting is a much longer process than spraying with (1) or (2). Apples have subsequently been sprayed with Paris Green, and pears might also be.

INSECT ENEMIES

1. The pear oyster scale is very injurious, especially on walls, if not checked at an early stage. The covering of the female is like a small oyster scale, hence the name. Scrape off any rough bark in winter, and apply the alkali or one of the other washes as a preventive. In May and June affected parts might be brushed with ¼ lb. of soft soap in a gallon of water. Tobacco or lime water might also be applied. Paraffin largely diluted may be used, but is dangerous in excess. Messrs Rivers in "The Miniature Fruit Garden" (p. 144) say: "Washing the parts affected with a mixture of soot, lime and sulphur will remove the roughness and restore the tree to health; the above mixed with skim milk is more enduring." As a believer from experience in soot and lime, I prefer this receipt, if the trees were not washed in winter.

2. The Blister Moth makes brown blisters on the leaves. It may be kept from laying eggs on the tree by syringing occasionally with soap-suds. Spraying with Paris Green just after the fruit is formed will do good. Half an ounce of best paste to 10 or 12 gallons of water, with some fresh lime added, will suffice for small gardens. Spray only in fine weather just after the petals have fallen. Paris Green is arsenic, and may poison bees if used too soon. The sprayer should avoid breathing over the mixture when making it up, should use gloves, work from windward, and not allow any spray to reach his flesh. A second spraying for this and other insects is often useful. Blundell, Spence & Co. (Ltd.), Hull, supply good paste. Price ½ lb. 1s., less for larger quantities. See also No. 3.

3. The Pear Leaf Mite causes small blisters on the leaves, but not the tunnels or galleries of the Blister Moth. It winters in the bud scales, and emerges in the spring. If the trees are washed and syringed, the attacks will be lessened. In (2) and (3) collect the blistered leaves as soon as seen, burn them and spray or syringe at once.

Miss Ormerod recommends a dilute paraffin emulsion sprayed over infested leaves. Dissolve ¼ lb. of soft soap in a gallon of water, add this while boiling to two gallons of paraffin, churn the whole with syringe or small pump for ten or fifteen minutes to make a perfect mixture. For spraying add 12 gallons of water to each gallon of the emulsion. Stir well while spraying, and try the mixture on a branch or two lest it be too strong; if so, add more water. This emulsion is good for the Blister Moth and the Slug-worm.

4. The Slug-worm is so called from the similarity of the larva of this sawfly to a small black slug. The worms feed on the upper surface of the leaves. Dust with quick lime two or three days in succession, or syringe with strong soap-suds and some tobacco water. Clean with pure water in a few days. The paraffin emulsion (No. 3) might also be used. Quick-lime scattered around the roots and forked three or four inches into the soil may destroy their cocoons. But beware of excess. The remedy may be worse than the disease.

Insects that attack leaves will also eat the skin of the young fruits if conveniently placed for them.

5. The Pear Sucker is a jumping plant-louse which early in the season sucks the juices of the tree about the axils of the leaves. They are covered with the exudations of the sap, which often drops on the ground. The visits of the ants should call attention to this pest. Syringe well with soft soap and water, ½ lb. to 4 gallons, and add tobacco water. Remove all rough bark (their hiding-places) in winter.

6. The Pear Gnat Midge (_Diplosis pyrivora_) may readily ruin a crop if unchecked. It is a recent importation among us. Both here and in the United States it is spreading with alarming rapidity. It is a small two-winged fly, with a black body having lines of yellow hair. The female pierces the flower-buds and lays her eggs in them. These soon hatch, and the young tiny grubs eat their way into the embryo fruit, keeping to the fleshy part, leaving the core and seeds alone. The pears turn brown, and then black. Cut them open, you will notice maggots. The fruit bursts or falls, the maggots form silken cocoons in the soil in which they pupate, and remain till the blossoms begin to expand next spring. Mr J. Fraser (editor of _Gardening World_) has kindly sent these details, and recommends (1) that the injured fruit be gathered and burnt; (2) that two inches of the ground beneath the trees should be taken up and burnt; (3) that kainit should be distributed round the trees in autumn. Kainit is said to keep off wireworm, and is recommended in the United States as a preventive against this pest. I think the mixture No. 2 or No. 3 should also be used, as insects may be deterred by the scent. Lime and soot spread over the ground in winter would probably do good.

7. Weevils devour leaves, buds, young shoots, even the skin of fruit. They feed by night, and may be shaken into a cloth off bushes. Lime and soot may lessen their attacks, either as a wash No. 2 or 3, or spread lightly round the stems, or as a powder over the leaves.

A special bellows for distributing any dry powder (as sulphur, lime, soot, etc.) can be had from De Luzy Fréres, 44A Harold Street, Camberwell. The price is 7s. 6d., carriage paid.

As a general rule insecticides should be applied in the evening or after the sun is down. Early and late visits to the trees are best for finding them feeding.

8. _Wasps_, after a dry spring, may be very numerous. Their nests often hold many thousands. Large numbers may be destroyed thus: place a hand-light upon bricks, make a small hole in the top of this, and over it put a sound and closely-fitting one. Fruit cut open should be thrown beneath the lower light. The wasps often go up through the hole, and do not return. Their buzzing attracts others. Destroy by burning sulphur beneath, or by drowning. A glass destroyer on a similar principle is sold in china-shops. Open-mouthed bottles filled with beer sweetened or water sweetened with treacle will lure many to destruction. Queen wasps in spring and wasp-nests must be noticed and destroyed. Fasten a piece of cloth soaked in a solution of cyanide of potassium (a small quantity dissolved in hot water), and put it in the nest; all the wasps will be killed. Dig out the grubs. This is a deadly poison, and should be handled only by an expert. The emanation from the solution must not be breathed. Tar does almost as well. A nest may be partly dug and flooded at night. A clean wine bottle (half-filled with water) inserted in the place of the nest (the top of the neck level with the surface of the ground) will probably capture all stragglers. Some make a heap of injured fruit and syringe the wasps with nicotine soap, eight ounces to a gallon of hot or cold water. This plan kills quickly, but the fruit no longer attracts. Squibs a half-inch in diameter, three inches long, made of gunpowder moistened with water, one-fourth of flowers of sulphur added, mixed into a paste, wrapped in brown paper, and tied at one end, are good for the work. After dark, light the squib, push the lighted end into the hole, put a sod over, and ram it in to confine the fumes. In a few minutes dig up and destroy the grubs, then fill up the hole. If the nest is high up, attach the squib to a stick, light, and keep it close (while burning) to the entrance. Young gardeners enjoy this squibbing process.

THINNING FRUIT

If you wish for fine fruit or a crop every year, trees must not be overworked, especially in their earlier days. Thin whenever there is a large crop, but do not begin too soon, as some fruits are not fully fertilised, and may fall. Never let fruits touch each other. As the fruits mature, give any grub-eaten to the pigs, and use inferior pears for cooking purposes. Grub-eaten fruit must not lie on the ground.

SUMMER, WINTER, BRANCH AND ROOT PRUNING; LIFTING