North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Ed Fackler" <rocmdw@aye.net>]

Richard and others:

     Since requested here goes.  To my knowledge there is still not a great
deal of difference amongst the OHxF series.  Some years back I dropped 51
due to reasons Ethan cited, 339 due to excessive suckering, etc.
     I think the primary reason why some folks experience severe stunting is
that these stocks don't possess many feeder roots and when they are dug,
most all of them are stripped.  And if the orchard planter does not head
back the top (reduce it to around 3') when planting, the tree stays in near
perpetual stress (little roots feeding a large upper portion) and therefore
stunted (sometimes for years).
     We never had this here as generally the trees were transplanted
immediately after being dug.  However even when they came out of cold
storage (some 3-4 months), with heading back to around 3', the trees made
excellent growth.
     As information, we've dozens of trees of Magness (shy in bearing) on
333, 339, 97 and cally which are around 20 years in age and require thinning
each and every year.

ed, S. Ind. heaven, etc.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Moyer, Richard" <ramoyer@king.edu>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 1:13 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] RE: pear rootstocks; why grow them?


> Hopefully Ed Fackler will weigh in on Pear Rootstocks for Zone 5-6.  Upon
> his recommendation, OHxF 333 has done well here in East Tenn for blight
and
> drought resistance, plus vigor.  Has performed roughly equal to Callery
> rootstock.
>
> Chris asked for opinions on why grow Euro pears:
> >On pears, I think I may have stated this before, but regarding Euro
pears,
> >(and I probably like a good pear better than many apples), what is the
> >incentive for home raising them?  Since some of the best varieties are
> available
> >for a fairly low price, and since they have to be picked before they are
> >ripe anyway, what's the point? Not trying to start a fire- and/or a food-
> fight
> >but am looking for other's opinions.  Thanks, crm
>
> Chirs, here's why we grow pears:
> Wendell Berry promotes this wisdom for many areas of life: "Shorten your
> supply lines".
> There's a myth in East Tenn that quality pears will not grow here.  I'd
like
> to demonstrate local pear production, especially for those scared of
> fireblight and Keiffer texture.  (ARS pear breeder Richard Bell is making
> significant progress in these areas.) As an educator, I've never forgotten
a
> neighbor in Oregon scared to eat their own pears, so bought theirs in the
> store while cursing the mess in their yard that had to be hauled to the
> street.  We offered to help!
> Greg Reighard stressed at a Clemson NAFEX meeting 10 years ago that pears
> are the easiest tree fruit to grow.  Mine require much less effort than
> apples. We try to model to local folks that they can produce quality,
> blemish-free fruit in their yard, with little to no spray, and pears fit
> this bill.
> We also grow pears for calories.  With 4 kids and #5 on the way, we
consume
> fruit by the bushel, not pounds.  Pears can fill up a hungry, active kid,
> and they pick their own for several months.  We trade pears for meat,
milk,
> cheese, eggs, etc, because there are so few quality pears produced
locally.
> I had a request this fall for several bushels of European pears for local
> production of new blended fruit products; chutneys, butters, etc.
> Could go on, but there's some of our reasons.  I have an online article
> written almost 3 years ago:
> http://www.king.edu/faculty/moyer/Pears-for-the-Carolinas.pdf; some of the
> links need to be updated.
> Richard Moyer
> East Tenn, Zone 6, Medlar season soon!
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Most questions can be answered here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary
files, plain text ONLY!
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> To view your user options go to:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where XXXX@XXXX
is
> YOUR email address)
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
>
>