Happily, also, there are varieties of pears endowed with constitutions
fitted for very different climates. Varieties of pears from central
and northern Russia show remarkable capacity in resisting cold, heat,
dryness, strong winds, and other peculiarities of the climate of the
Great Plains, and some of them can be grown in the coldest agricultural
regions of New York. A few hybrids, as Kieffer, Le Conte, Garber,
Douglas, and others of their kind can be grown in the Gulf States
where the common pear cannot withstand the hot summers. Cincinis, Le
Conte, and Garber thrive as far south as central Florida and southern
Texas. There is considerable variation in the hardiness of the common
pear. Tyson, Flemish Beauty, and Beurré Superfin are much hardier than
Bartlett, Seckel, or Clapp Favorite, and may be chosen to extend the
culture of this fruit to any part of New York in which the Baldwin
apple can be grown. It is most surprising to find occasionally these
hardiest of the common pears growing in some of the coldest parts of
the State, usually as demonstrations not only of superior inherent
hardiness but also of hardiness brought about by conditions which
enable the trees to enter the winter with unimpaired constitutions.
The pear is seldom injured by heat in the summers of New York.
Occasionally fruit and foliage suffer from long-continued heat in the
dry weather of a hot summer. More often the trunks of pear-trees are
injured by a blazing sun in late winter or early spring, especially
when the sun's rays are reflected by ice or snow and strike the tree
intensified. Indeed, sun-scald so produced is one of the common
troubles of the pear in New York. With the pear, as with all other
fruits, there is a sum total of heat units above a certain temperature,
put by most experimenters at about 43° F., the awakening point of
growth, necessary to carry the crop from blossoms to proper maturity.
Of the number of units necessary to mature a crop little is known.
Many varieties do not ripen in New York in a cold season, but come to
perfect maturity in warm seasons. A study of phenology would throw much
light on the failure of pears to ripen properly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account