When it comes to Shandong's local specialties, I am afraid that there is no more familiar sentence than "Yantai apple Laiyang pear". Laiyang pear, as a well-known local specialty of Yantai, has been well-known at home and abroad for hundreds of years, and is popular among the population. During the Republic of China, the world regarded Laiyang as the center of pear tree cultivation in Shandong. There is no shortage of people who go to inspect and investigate. Let's sort out the research materials about Laiyang pear during the Republic of China and restore the glorious history of Laiyang pear.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > has a long history and was famous in the late Qing Dynasty and early Min</h1>
Laiyang pear is said to be derived from Chiping by the Laiyang people, but according to research, chiping county does not have this variety and similar varieties exist. During the Ming Chongzhen period, Laiyang pears were already planted in the Laiyang area. An example of this is an ancient pear tree that is more than 400 years old in Luergang, Laiyang. Although laiyang pear has a long history of cultivation, the records of Laiyang pears are relatively late in the records of laiyang pears in successive local chronicles, such as "Laiyang County Chronicle" and "Shandong Tongzhi". The earliest record of laiyang pear local history is the "Shandong Tongzhi" published in the fourth year of the Republic of China (1915). This book yun: "Pear, Fukuyama has the most, and Laiyang is better." The Laiyang County Chronicle, which was later printed in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935), recorded: "Laiyang pears are famous in the north and south, and they are the best of the fruits, referring to this." "Laiyang pears, which have been cultivated for hundreds of years, have been unknown before, and the reason why they were only concerned by Shi Zhi cultivators nearly a hundred years ago is related to a Japanese.
About three or four years before the Republic of China era, that is, between 1907 and 1908, The Japanese horticulturist Dr. Onda went to Laiyang to investigate and found Laiyang pears. The reason why Dr. Entian went to Laiyang to investigate, presumably the planting of Laiyang pears has become a certain scale. Subsequently, Dr. Onda recorded the drawing of Laiyang fennabi in his monograph. In this monograph, Dr. Onda spoke highly of the quality of Laiyang pear, calling it "the best of the oriental pears." Foreigners have such a high evaluation of Laiyang pear, so that the Chinese people began to believe that Laiyang pear is different, "its quality not only surpasses the domestic group of pears, that is, Toho pears are also beyond the dust, can be called the east Asian pear type of cattle ear." In the winter of that year, Dr. Onda took a fennabi rhodiscus from Laiyang and propagated it to a trial seed at the Kojin Horticultural Experimental Field in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, and changed its name to "Laiyang Ci Pear". The trial was a great success, and although the quality was still a little worse than that of the real Laiyang pear, it was still a gem in Japan. The garden later used the pear as a tribute to the Japanese emperor, "so it attracted the attention of the Japanese government and the public, praised by the crowds, and competed for trial planting", and the planting area in Japan gradually expanded, becoming a valuable fruit in the Tokyo market.
The fame of Laiyang pears has made Laiyang pear farmers profitable, and the planting area has been expanding. According to the 1923 "Proceedings of the Shandong Industrial Society", "(Laiyang Pear) is a good profit, with an annual output value of nearly 200,000 ... The cultivation area has reached 60 square miles. "Whenever in the late spring and March, the pear blossoms on the west bank of the Xuanshui River (clam river) are like snow, the pink carvings are jade, and the buds are full of branches, so that tourists are like clouds, and they all come to see the flowers, which is the Pear Blossom Festival." From this description in the old data, it can be seen that the famous Laiyang "Pear Blossom Festival" has become a grand event in the Republic of China period.
In November 1934, the Construction Department of Shandong Province investigated that the main production areas of Laiyang pears were Luergang, Zhaowangzhuang, Xingezhuang and other places, with a total area of 4,050 mu. The area around the laterite cliff in Laiyang Pear District has the name of "Little Chibi" in ancient times. The cliff top used to have the Danya Immortal Temple, which is extremely magnificent. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the scale of Laiyang pear cultivation here was large, and when spring came, pear blossoms piled up snow, and the shore willows were like smoke, and "Danya Spring Snow" became a major grand scene in Laiyang. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Laiyang poet Zhao Shengzu once had a poem praising this beautiful cloud: "A thousand trees, pear blossoms, a thousand trees and snow, a stream of willows and a stream of smoke." Wang Xichuan, a famous Laiyang scholar in the Republic of China, also climbed the cliff to admire the flowers in the fourth year of the Republic of China (1915), and wrote a poem entitled "On March 18th, I went to the Laterite Cliff to see the pear blossoms".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > unique region to create excellent quality Laiyang pears</h1>
The reason why Laiyang pears are different in variety is inseparable from the natural environment in which they grow. Laiyang pears are mainly distributed in the Wulong River Basin in Laiyang. The Wulong River is formed by the confluence of five major rivers: Qingshui River, Fushui River, Clam River, Bailong River and Ink River. The sand along the Wulong River is as fine as a surface, commonly known as "face sand", "completely made of alluvial soil made of fine sand weathered by granite, washed down from the upper reaches of the river and accumulated". "The soil is loose and deep, and it is very good for the fertility of pears, and the pears produced are very sweet and sweet." "Therefore, the pear garden is filled with land along the river." In addition to the soil, the water of the Wulong River is clear and sweet, which is also a major factor in the excellent quality of Laiyang pears.
Due to the northwest wind, the sandy land belt of the Wulong River Basin is on the left side of the river——— that is, the southeast side, which is about one or two miles wide. This is the main production area of Laiyang pears, and the local people once said: "Whoever has a pear tree stem buried deep in the sand has a good quality pear." According to the investigation of agronomic experts in the Republic of China period, on the opposite bank of the clam river and the Qingshui River (the east bank of the river), it is about ten miles long and about one mile wide, which is the production area of "Neishan Pear". The pears produced here are rich in fine sugar and the yield is also high, which is said to be due to the high sand and water in the soil. Before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, people in Yantai often came here to buy pears and go back to make pear paste, and the pear paste produced was five or six pounds more than those in other villages (per hundred pounds of pears). Among the "Neishan Pear" production areas, the quality of the two villages of Luergang and Xiaogezhuang is particularly the best. The west bank of the Wulong River is about thirteen or fourteen miles long, wide about the land of About Rishi, the local so-called "Waishan Pear" production area, the quality is relatively inferior, probably related to the low sand in the soil.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > multiple disasters The Laiyang pear producing area is difficult to produce high yields</h1>
As one of the major rivers in jiaodong peninsula, the Wulong River has flooded many times in history, causing great damage to the production of Laiyang pears. The Republic of China's "Laiyang County Chronicle" Yun: "The Five Dragons, the Five Waters Jia County ruled more than ten miles to the south, and to the Five Dragons, they passed through the mountains and valleys, the stone cliffs were wrong, and the plates were forced to enter the sea." The explosion is steep and sharp, and the si floods the river. More than ten villages, such as Wulong Andibei Lü yan, were submerged and covered once in a few years. "More than ten villages such as Lü Yan are the core production areas of Laiyang pears such as Luergang and Xiaogezhuang.
Laiyang pears often suffer from frost damage. There is a local saying "nine harms in ten years", which refers to the cause of frost damage. According to records, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the protective forest along the river in the west and north of Laiyang Pear District was seriously damaged by the enemy, cut down, and completely lost its role as a windproof embankment. During the flowering period in April, the northern cold current crosses the border, and the pear trees are frozen almost every year; during the rainy season, the river rises and the torrent overflows, and the pear trees suffer from waterlogging, the trees become weaker, and the yield is sharply reduced.
In addition to floods and frost disasters, the biggest impact on Laiyang pears is the disease and insect pests. In the 1930s, the Laiyang Pear District was plagued by pests and diseases for several years. Due to the backward treatment technology at that time, once the pests and diseases were fierce, pear farmers were helpless and could only listen to nature. To this end, the Shandong Provincial Construction Department has sent personnel to investigate in detail, "Fang Zhi has been infested by diseases and insects for many years, and has been seriously damaged, all pear industries have fallen off early due to rust, and the good pear fruits have been plagued by insects and nine times out of ten." "In order to effectively control diseases and insect pests, the local government has set aside more than 700 pear trees in the southwest corner of Wugezhuang as a standard experimental area for prevention and control. In order to cultivate local agricultural technical personnel, Zhao Yisheng and Zhu Linhui, cooperative instructors of the fourth section of Laiyang County, were mobilized in the provincial city to receive training in the prevention and control of diseases and insect pests.
In order to effectively popularize the scientific treatment of diseases and insect pests, in 1936, the Construction Department of Shandong Province expanded the Laiyang Pear Disease and Pest Experimental Area, and selected Wang Mingxin, director of the Disease and Pest Department of the Shandong Agricultural Experimental Institute, to Laiyang for guidance at any time. After a detailed investigation of Laiyang pear diseases and insect pests, Wang Mingxin believes that rust is the biggest pest and disease of Laiyang pears. Rust is red star disease, Laiyang pear farmers call it "wool boils", as "the most serious disease of pears over the years". "The pathogen, in autumn and winter, parasitizes the branches and leaves of juniper cypress, and re-offends in the spring of the following year." Originally, local pear farmers planted cypress trees on the edge of the pear orchard to facilitate the manufacture of furniture. Unexpectedly, these cypress trees have become the parasites of pathogens. If you rely exclusively on manual prevention and control, you must apply the drug for many years to be effective. To this end, After a detailed investigation of the juniper and juniper near the pear garden, Wang Mingxin made a report to the Shandong Provincial Construction Department and suggested that "if the juniper and juniper within the five-mile area near the pear garden are completely removed and no longer planted, the rust will never recur."
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > has undergone several changes Laiyang pears have gradually returned to prosperity</h1>
Before the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, most of the pear orchards in Laiyang were concentrated in the hands of landlords and rich peasants. Because Laiyang pears are more profitable, their lives are quite rich, so they pay special attention to management work such as fertilization and pruning, and the pear orchards produce well and the yield is also high. At that time, pears were mostly shipped to Harbin, Shanghai, Tianjin and other places, and each kilogram was about one kilogram of autumn grain, which should be said to be a very high price. Generally speaking, the middle peasants only have three or four acres of land, which is about five percent of the landlords. Although it is not too much, but life is also quite rich, this period is the peak of Laiyang pear. After the "918" incident and the fall of Northeast China, because Northeast China had fallen into the hands of the Japanese Kou, and Japan also had the power of ci pears, it was very likely to replace it. The sales of Laiyang pear in the northeast region gradually disappeared, and Laiyang pear was mainly sold to Qingdao, Yantai and other places.
Shortly after the beginning of the all-out War of Resistance, Laiyang fell into the hands of the Japanese. "The enemy and the counterfeits paid great attention to Laiyang pears, and the sales channels in the occupied areas and enemy countries were smoother, and the prices were also good." After that, Kuomintang troops were often stationed here. Especially under the occupation of Zhao Baoyuan's puppet army, seeing that the income of pear orchards was relatively large, he put a burden on the pear farmers, most of which was added to the pear farmers, stipulating that each pear tree should pay a certain amount of grain, grass and firewood, which was several times higher than the usual cultivated land, and the pear farmers were overwhelmed, so they endured the pain of cutting down the pear trees. During this period, in the main pear-producing areas of Laiyang such as Zhaowangzhuang, Luerkou and Dataozhang, the pear trees were cut down the most, reaching more than half. When Zhao Baoyuan's army retreated, it robbed the pear garden again, and the peasants hated it to the bone. After the "land reform" and liberation, the people's government carried out the same "land reform" of pear orchards according to the general land. However, some people have mismanaged the pear tree, resulting in some losses. Later, the government organized cooperatives on behalf of farmers, the fruit tree guidance station organized by Jiaodong Farm, and the research groups and demonstration and promotion committees organized by various activists in the village to "prevent the felling of pear trees, improve production sentiment, absorb the experience of the masses, and introduce technical guidance." In 1949, the cooperative transportation and marketing industry began, and the government and farmers signed a purchase and sale contract, and the government unified transportation and marketing. Stimulated by various measures, the planting area of Laiyang pears has gradually recovered and expanded, and the grand scenery of the past has gradually reappeared.
Written by / Liu Shuwei