Re: Pear plague

**Lucky Pittman lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>**

>Subject: Re: [GWL] FW: The Coming Plague of Pears
>My understanding of the problem of splitting in callery pears is due to
>narrow and the very straight grain of the wood.

Narrow branch angles, included bark, etc., contribute to the rapid demise 
of Bradford pear and its kin.  I can't comment on straightness of grain, as 
I'm not a woodworker, but Ken Asmus indicates that some European craftsmen 
prefer pear lumber for construction of some musical instruments.

In the side yard of the first home my wife and I bought after we were 
married, in southern middle TN, there was a HUGE old callery pear - 
probably 40 ft tall, with trunk so large I could not reach around it at 
breast height, but it had a very good horizontal branching pattern, with 
lowest limbs probably 10 ft above ground level.  Can't recall ever seeing 
any fruit on it, but there were no other pears - fruiting or ornamental - 
anywhere nearby.  It was quite thorny, and suckered profusely from its 
roots, which 'came to the surface' as badly as any sweetgum or maple I've 
ever encountered - they were hell on the lawnmower .  When we first took 
possession of the property, it was surrounded by a veritable thicket, 
extending 20-30 ft out away from the trunk,  of thorny, pole-like suckers, 
some 3" in diameter, but they also had good branch angles(as would be 
expected of clones of the ortet).
Never saw any evidence of wind damage to the old tree, and it was quite 
striking in full bloom, with good fall color.

Lucky Pittman
USDA Zone 6
Hopkinsville, KY

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