TO PRUNE PEAR-TREES. 87 



of the tree. I am opposed to sawing off large limbs, as by 

 it the tree receives a severe shock, which must necessarily 

 retard its growth ; but, if it must be done, the wound should 

 be immediately covered with a mixture of cow-manure and 

 clay. This helps to heal the wound, and is a protection from 

 the weather. 



To do away with this butchering entirely, I permit no sur- 

 plus wood to grow, or, in other words, pinch off all surplus 

 young shoots when about five inches long, heading down 

 especially thrifty trees by cutting off two-thirds of the last 

 year's growth with a sharp knife, and make a smooth cut, 

 slanting upwards on a level with the point of the bud. In 

 soft-wooded, pithy trees, half an inch ought to be left above 

 the bud. The position of the bud cut to is also of much im- 

 portance in changing the form of the tree ; that is, if you 

 wish a shoot to grow upright, prune to a bud on the inside of 

 shoot ; and, to spread, prune to a bud on the outside, for, if 

 you cut every year to a bud on the same side, in two or three 

 seasons it will show an inclination to that side, — a great 

 injury to the symmetry of the tree. It is essential to head 

 down once a year in order that every limb should grow 

 strong enougli to stand up under its burden when it fruits. 



Regarding blight : I had a very thrifty standard Seckel tree 

 in my orchard, which had about six inches of every branch 

 on it blighted in the winter of 1871-72, and, singular to re- 

 late, it was not the last growth, but the growth of the year 

 previous, that blighted, while the growth above it, and all 

 below it, remained sound: you coidd see at a distance a 

 black line about six inches long. On discovering this, early 

 in spring I cut off with my shears every branch six inches 

 below the blighted part, so as to stop its spreading any 

 farther ; and now I am glad to say that the tree is thrifty 

 and healthy, and last year I exhibited at the fair at Lawrence 

 a dozen of its pears that I thought would bring the first 

 premium. 



The most profitable trees to set out, for permanency and 

 profit, are standards, because they grow larger, are more 

 thrifty, live longer, and produce more fruit, the Duchesse 

 d'Angouleme alone excepted, which thrives best on quince 

 stock. The dwarf, as a rule, comes to bearing soon after 

 planting, and bearing a few specimens every year keeps it in 



