I've never found it necessary to spray a pear. Ever. Near-perfect, if not totally perfect fruit with no need to do anything other than thin(or support branches if I don't get around to thinning).

For what it's worth to you, it's a violation of federal law to use a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its label.

Pests and diseases are very local, so if possible, talk to someone in your area or see if your state university extension has a spray schedule recommendation. For example, I'm trying to use the UVa schedule (link below), which recommends Captan for cherries all season and apples only after petal fall, with Immunox earlier in the season -- but their schedule may be overkill for you in WI.

For pears, fungicide options are slim -- copper, sulfur, or lime sulfur. WVU has an organic pear orchard (but no apples or other fruit as far as I know), so pears really are easier.

Do you know if your cherries are sour (pie) cherries or sweet cherries? Many people here say they sour cherries don't require much spraying.

I'm new to fruit trees also, and I envy you starting out with productive trees! Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Virginia Fruit Spray Guide

Makers of plant spray material go to considerable expense to have their product registered for use on a particular crop. Unfortunately just because it is legal to use it for a particular problem, does not guarantee it is the most effective material available. Many studies have indicated a lot of chemical sprays are wasted because of a failure to identify the problem attempting to be remedied. Before applying sprays as a preventative, check with your local university extension to be sure it is needed locally. Al

Captan is an affective protectant (must be on leaves when wet conditions arrive) for apple scab, not so for pear scab.

Pears can be easy or they can be very difficult to protect. Once you start battling psyla, fabracea, and scab they are much more work than apples, and I didn't mention fireblight.

I would never use Captan as your friend suggests. Better to buy some Immunox and spray every couple of weeks during danger. I get by here in southeastern NY with as few as 2 sprays, one at petal fall and one 10-14 days later. If I apply a delayed dormant spray (from the first sign of green till buds just start to show color) I'll throw some fungicide in the mix- not Captan as it is not compatible with oil. I'm talking here about protecting apples.

I use the Captan to delay resistance to the Immunox and mix it in the petal fall and following spray along with my insecticide (Imidan). It also spreads in light rain
helping to protect growing shoots. Immunox stays where it is.

There are several good pear fungicides, including Mancozeb and Flint.

Thanks! The cherries are montmorency. I moved in just in time to harvest them.
The pears all had a single hole in them last year. Coddling moth? My friend thought the apple trees looked like the need fungicide when he showed my how to prune this spring. None of the apples were eadible. The looked all brusied on the inside. I'll use what captan I have on the apples only.
Can I use a pesticide on both trees? I have the spray guide from UW, but it looks like it would be of mre help if I was more knowledgeable about what the dieases/pests are .... How do I contact the local extension office?
Thanks again,
BackYardKing

It could have been codling moth (CM) that put holes in all your pears. You'll see "frass" around the holes many times. Frass is a nice way of saying worm poop. CM is pretty easy to identify. The larva goes right to the center of the fruit and eats the seeds.

Your apples could have CAR damage. If so, Captan is ineffective against it.

Your friends spraying program on his pears is completely idiotic, and I mean that in a very caring way :-) Seriously, commercial formulations of Captan used to be labeled for pears, and last I heard, there were some homeowner formulations still labeled for pears, but twice a week is wholly unnecessary.

Re: Using pesticides on both apples and pears. Most pesticides that are labeled for apples, are also labeled for pears. Captan is an exception.

University extensions are run through the state land grant Ag universities. You can Google them for your state. Call one of the offices, and they should be able to put you in contact with one in your area. Some University Extensions can be pretty good, others can be pretty poor.

You're right being concerned about pests. We are getting ready to get in the season, where they'll be all kinds of people complaining on this forum they lost their crops from various pests, as if something strange were happening to them. In many locales, it's precisely what one should expect without any measures of crop protection. However, in WI you may only need a few targeted sprays to get near perfect fruit. From others experiences, WI doesn't seem to have a lot of pest pressures.

Harvestman, thanks for the info on pear fungicides -- I will look for those.