Victorian Pear Tree Cultivation
From the 'Dictionary of Daily Wants' (1858-1859)
PEAR, CULTURE OF. - The pear requires a good, naturally rich, loamy soil,
not however enriched by artificial means, as that would only have the effect of producing
a luxuriance of growth that would require much skill and labour to overcome. The pear is
cultivated in a variety of forms, according to the hardiness or tenderness of the kind;
and the sorts are chosen most suitable to the purposes for which they are intended.
Grafting is the usual mode, and for this purpose two distinct kinds of stocks are used,
the one called the free stock or wild seedlings, the other the quince. The first is the
most proper for the orchard pear, as this produces much larger trees; the latter is best
adapted in general for espaliers, walls, and pyramidal trees in gardens. In planting the
pear on quince stocks, it is necessary that the stock should be covered up to its junction
with the graft, and, if the soil is not extremely wet, the tree may be planted in the
usual manner, so that the upper roots are on a level with the surface of the soil. But
with pear trees on the quince it is necessary to form a mound of compost, above
half-rotten manure and earth, mixed in equal quantities, which must cover the stock up
to the junction of the graft to the letter a in the engraving; and this is made of rich
compost in order to encourage it to emit roots into the surface soil, and to keep it from
becoming hard and bark-bound. To make this emission of roots
more certain, the stem may be tongued, that is, the bark must be cut through upwards
from the root, and a slip about one inch in length raised, as seen at b b b b . These
pieces of bark must be kept open, by inserting a piece of broken flower-pot or slate.
Several of these tongues may be made, and by the end of the first year after planting,
every incision will have emitted roots; the stock, owing to its being kept continually
moist, will swell and keep pace with the graft, and the tree will flourish and remain
healthy.
Budding is performed precisely as for other
fruits, and for the same purpose as grafting. By this course, however, one year or nearly
so may be considered lost, in point of time. Seed is resorted to either to produce stocks
or to raise new kinds. The seeds should be washed from the pulp when the fruit is fully
ripe, dried and preserved as other seeds, and sown in February following. When it is
wished to expedite the process, for the sake of gaining time, with fancy seedlings, the
young plants may be sown and reared in a moderate bottom warmth, sowing in January or
February, potting off the plants when up, and hardening them off by the beginning of June,
when they may be planted out in a warm spot. The best way to prove such seedlings is to
plant them on a good bearing old tree, on a quince stock if possible; they will thus fruit
in half the time. During the growing period, the chief point is to keep down the watery
spray, which is generally produced in abundance. Caution must be exercised in not doing
this too early, or the embryo blossom buds may be driven into growth. The best practice
is to commence by disbudding in the beginning of May. All gross foreright shoots are
stripped away, and several of the more luxuriant shoots when too thick. In a few weeks
the shoots begin to lengthen considerably, and their character as to fruitfulness is in
some degree determinable.
Very few of our pears bear on wood of the previous year, but a
great many shoots plainly show betimes that their tendencies are towards fructification;
such should be by all means encouraged. About Midsummer a selection may be made; most of
those which look browner than the rest, and are shorter jointed, must be reserved; and
much of the paler; longer-pointed, and more succulent-looking spray may be cut or pinched
back, leaving about four inches at the base. Those reserved are tied down to the older
branches, sometimes in a reverse position. In about a month from this operation, the
points are pinched from nearly all the growing shoots; this should be done about the
middle of August, and it has a tendency to cause the wood to become highly solidified,
and thus induces fruitfulness. After this period, the only point is to pinch the
extremities of all succulent spray which may arise. When the summer culture of the pear
is properly attended to, but little is left for the winter primer. Nevertheless, tbere is
still something to do; some shoots will have escaped the summer dresser, and many "snags"
must be cut entirely away. Most of those which had been pinched back three inches at
Midsummer, or after that be pruned entirely away. No stump spur must be left, unless a
blank space occur. These snags removed, the young tied or nailed down must be examined,
and the superfluous ones cut away. Those reserved must be tied down on the
old stems, or nailed between them, and little more is necessary until the growing period
returns.
The conditions requisite for storing are a rather cool room, and one
that is dry. The precise temperature is not quite certain, as it probably differs
somewhat in different kinds. The safest would be from 55 to 60 degrees, not more than the
latter. It is a common remark that the apple and pear bear well, and the reverse in
alternate years. The cause of this, for the most part, is allowing the trees to exhaust
themselves, by carrying more fruit in one season than they can well bring to full
maturity. The trees become greatly weakened, and the extraordinary draught made by their
roots upon the soil in which they grow extracts from it all, or nearly all, the food it
contains suitable for their existence.
