Six states produced over 65 per cent of the pears grown in the United
States in 1919. The census of 1920 shows that in the preceding year the
total crop of the country was 14,211,346 bushels, of which California
produced 3,952,923 bushels; New York, 1,830,237 bushels; Washington,
1,728,759 bushels; Oregon, 761,063 bushels; Texas, 637,400 bushels; and
Missouri, 430,828 bushels. Trees in all other states yielded 4,870,136
bushels. There were according to this census 14,646,995 bearing trees
and 6,051,845 not of bearing age. The yield of fruit was 60 per cent
greater than in 1909; the number of bearing trees 3 per cent less;
and the number of non-bearing trees 28 per cent less. Compared with
other tree-fruits, according to this census, the pear occupies fourth
place in value of product, the apple, peach (including the nectarine),
and plum (including the prune), in order named, outranking the pear.
Probably the orange, grape, and strawberry yield greater value to the
country than the pear, although the acreage of each of these three
fruits is smaller. Commercial production cannot be segregated from
the total, but without question the increase in plantings is due to
commercial activities; for the development of the canning industry,
refrigerator service, and better transportation have greatly stimulated
trade in this fruit.
In the states in which pear-growing is a commercial industry,
commercial orchards are confined to localities in which climate,
soil, and transportation combine to favor the pear. In New York, for
example, pears are grown for market on a large scale in only ten of the
sixty-one counties. These, with the number of trees in each, according
to the last census are as follows: Niagara, 620,743; Monroe, 384,374;
Orleans, 377,371; Columbia, 308,298; Wayne, 305,239; Ulster, 304,158;
Greene, 208,885; Oswego, 154,576; Ontario, 121,934; Orange, 96,456.
Over 77 per cent of all the pear-trees in the State are in these
counties, and 79 per cent of the pears grown in the State are produced
in these ten counties. The production of pears in New York for the
eleven-year period from 1909 to 1919, inclusive, show the increase and
fluctuation in the production of pears in the State for this period.
The figures for 1909 and 1919 are from the thirteenth and fourteenth
census reports, while those of the intervening years are estimates
from the Bureau of Crop Estimates of the United States Department of
Agriculture. The yields run in bushels for the eleven years as follows:
1,343,000, 1,530,000, 1,886,000, 1,128,000, 2,016,000, 1,298,000,
1,375,000, 1,675,000, 1,708,000, 1,352,000, and 1,830,237.
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