[Illustration: Marshall P. Wilder] STATE OF NEW YORK--DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Twenty-ninth Annual Report--Vol. 2--Part II * * * * * THE PEARS OF NEW YORK BY U. P. HEDRICK ASSISTED BY G. H. HOWE O. M. TAYLOR E. H. FRANCIS H. B. TUKEY Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1921 II ALBANY J. B. LYON COMPANY, PRINTERS 1921 NEW YORK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, GENEVA, N. Y., _October_ 1, 1921. _To the Honorable Board of Control of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station_: GENTLEMEN:--I have the honor to transmit herewith the manuscript of the sixth of the series of monographs on fruits, to be entitled "The Pears of New York." I recommend that, under the authority of chapter 636 of the Laws of 1919, this be submitted for publication as Part II of the report of this Station for 1921. The wide-spread use of and frequent expressions of appreciation for the preceding books of this series are ample justification for the preparation and publication of this similar treatise on pears. Further, the added years of experience and observation of Dr. Hedrick and his assistants serve to bring each successive monograph to a higher state of excellence and completeness. The present work is a splendid example of painstaking care in the collection and compilation of all available evidence concerning all known varieties of pears. With the publication of this volume, the series will include books on apples, peaches, plums, cherries and pears, all of our leading tree-fruits of the non-citrus type. The book on grapes and the "Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants" are similar treatises published in uniform style with those dealing with tree-fruits and it is hoped that the series may eventually be extended to include similar discussions of small fruits. "The Pears of New York" cannot fail to find an extremely useful place in the literature of fruit-growing, and its publication will be welcomed by the fruit growers of the State and by horticulturists the world over. R. W. THATCHER, _Director_ PREFACE