Pear Klapp's Favorite

This culture is more than 160 years old, but such a venerable age does not detract from its advantages such as unpretentious care, excellent taste properties of fruits, a stable level of fruiting, and an increased degree of winter hardiness.

Pear Klapp's Favorite was bred in 1860 in the USA by the scientist T. Clapp. She was originally named Klapp's Favorite. In the State Register since 1947, and zoned in the North-West, North Caucasus and the Lower Volga region. It is readily cultivated in Central Asian regions, the Baltic countries, Moldova and Belarus.

The culture is of a vigorous type (5-6 m), develops a wide-pyramidal and sparse crown (as it grows, it develops into a wide-round one) with slightly hanging branches. The main branches are thickened, weakly branching, diverge from the trunk at an angle of 45 degrees. It blooms in the medium term, and blooms with large flowers of white shades, slightly double, which are grouped 6-7 in inflorescences.

The plant is self-fertile - it needs pollinators. Differs in cold resistance, tolerates drought well. However, in dry times, the fruits become smaller, they are exposed to the defeat of the sucker. It does not have protection against scab; in the wet season it suffers from this disease. Begins to bear fruit late - in the 7-8th year after planting.

The shoots are elongated, slightly thickened, erect, dark brownish shades, with shortened internodes, with many grayish lentils. Leaves are small, elliptical or oval-ovoid, slightly tapering downward, slightly pointed, shiny, no pubescence, edges finely serrated, dark greenish shades. Petioles not thick, elongated, light green.

Removable ripeness of pears reaches the end of July or the second decade of August. The fruits are extremely susceptible to the moment of picking, which is reflected in their falling off when overripe, such fruits lose their traditional taste. Typical terms of their removal - 10 days before full ripening. The degree of transportability is moderate, keeping quality is up to 14 days. Pears are eaten fresh, dried and compotes are prepared from them.

The fruits of the culture have a short-pear-shaped configuration, with a weight of 140-200 g. The peel is yellowish, even, with multiple specks. There is a pronounced blush on the sunny sides of the fruit. The consistency is light, juicy, with a wonderful sour-sweet taste. Subcutaneous spots are subtle. Peduncles are of medium size, thickened, somewhat curved.

By chemical composition, the fruits contain: dry inclusions - 13.7%, sugars - 8.3%, titratable acid compounds - 0.4%, ascorbic acid - 6.6 mg / 100g, catechins - 39.4 mg / 100 g of raw material ... Falling off during maturation is present.

The fruit has a sweet taste with a special quince aroma.

The ripening period is in the summer. In the Kuban steppes, for example, the harvest is carried out from July 28 to August 8, on the hills - at the beginning of the second half of August. With age, the culture bears fruit constantly.

The culture is high-yielding. In the center of the Kuban (aged 15-20 years) - up to 150-180 c / ha, in the foothills (24-26 years) - 250-300 c / ha.

The plant is self-fertile. The pollinating plants used are Bere Giffard, Williams, Tavricheskaya and others.

The culture is not particularly whimsical to the quality of the soil, but on light soils it bears fruit more quickly than on clayey. She does not accept swampy, poorly drained and saline areas. It develops well in southern areas, sheltered from the wind. Acceptable degree of soil acidity is pH 5.0-6.5. In alkaline areas, the degree of scab attack increases sharply.

In shaded areas, the tree develops well, but bears fruit poorly. The distance to buildings must be at least 4 meters.

The culture is planted in the spring, because during the summer the young tree manages to gain strength, takes root reliably, and perfectly tolerates its first cold weather. In the southern latitudes, the culture can be planted in the fall. Saplings must be planted asleep. It is better to buy them in the fall in special nurseries. Rather, trees take root and develop at the age of 1-2 years. The sequence for planting pears includes a number of points.

1. 21-28 days before planting, dig a hole with a depth and diameter of 70-80 cm. With clay soil, the bottom of the depression is drained with crushed stone, expanded clay. On sandstones, the deepening is made of different dimensions - 1-1.5 m3, and the bottom is equipped with layers of clay soil to retain moisture.

2. Further, humus, peat, black soil and sand (in equal proportions) are introduced into the depression, adding superphosphate (300-400 g) and wood ash (about 3 liters).

3. A few hours before planting, the roots of the young are placed in a container with water, where the substances necessary to stimulate the processes of root development are added (certain doses of "Heteroauxin", "Epin" or "Kornevin").

4. A part of the earth is selected from the depression, and a low mound is formed in the center. Next, a peg (1-1.3 m) is driven in from a tree at a distance of 10-15 cm from the center. When planting, the root collar of the tree should be at the level of the plank previously located across the hole. The planting operation is more convenient to perform together - the partner holds the tree, and you fill the hole, carefully smoothing the roots and tamping the soil.

At the end of the planting procedure, the tree is attached to a peg with a non-rigid cord, and a near-stem circle is planned next to it. Watering is plentiful. After a day, the soil is loosened and covered with mulch. The main conductor should be cut at a level of 0.6-0.8 m above the ground, and the branches should be shortened by 20-30 cm.

Seasoned gardeners are well aware of the unpretentiousness of this culture. Nevertheless, typical activities should be carried out if you want the fruits not to become smaller.

1. Irrigation is necessary, especially in dry season, and even more so for young animals.The first irrigation is carried out before the flowering of pears, the second - at the end of the flowering process. Then another series of watering is carried out during the ripening of the fruits. Of course, the frequency of irrigation depends on the abundance of precipitation. At the end of the season, a special abundant watering is performed. During the procedure, the depth of soil moisture should be controlled, the norm is 25-35 cm. After the soil dries up, the loosening process follows. If the near-stem circle is mulched, then loosening is not carried out.

2. Top dressing is carried out from the 4th year of tree growth. These activities will ensure significant shoot growth and increase yields.

3. The pear does not present any hassle with pruning. The process of competent formation of the crown of trees in the early years of their development remains relevant. Usually they get by with a typical sparse-tiered configuration. The crop does not need regulatory pruning. But sanitary pruning is carried out in late autumn.

Preventive measures and competent implementation of standard sanitary procedures such as cleaning, burning fallen leaves, digging near-stem circles in the fall, lime whitewashing, processing crowns and soil with a 3% solution of copper sulfate remain relevant for culture. The overwhelming majority of diseases to which the culture is exposed are of a fungal nature. Fungicides are used to treat them, but they should be used no more than 3 per season, since they are addictive.