SUMMER PRUNING DWARF PEARS. 



551 



with the roots of all trees, in order to faci- 

 litate the first efforts of the roots in pushing 

 in a new soil. Watering we have found 

 ntjcessary the first season after transplant- 

 ing, as we have, for the most part, taken 

 our trees from moist soils, which had given 

 them aquatic habits. We never prune our 

 evergreens, but let them form heads to 

 their own fancy ; throwing out their first 

 branches at the ground, and thus forming 

 beautiful cones if they choose. If pruning 

 is preferred, however, it may safely be per- 

 formed ajter the first year ; and any form 

 given to the head by the knife they will be 

 likely to retain, as they are not like deci- 

 duous trees — disposed to throw out new 

 shoots to supply the places of branches taken 

 off. 



We have found it an excellent practice to 

 keep the surface around evergreens well 



covered with leaves, especially in summer, 

 when the rays of the sun fall most violently 

 upon them. Leaves keep the earth cool 

 and moist, which is a desideratum to their 

 healthful growth. In their decay, they fur- 

 nish a natural aliment to sustain and in- 

 vigorate them. 



We cannot but suppose that the culture 

 of evergreens, when fully understood, will 

 be perseveringly entered into through every 

 section of our country. They will not only 

 be raised to please the eye and feast the 

 taste, but in northern and exposed regions, 

 the time will come Avhen they will be plant- 

 ed in belts around buildings and fields, to 

 protect them from the rude blasts of win- 

 ter and scorching sunbeams of summer, to 

 which such regions are eminently exposed. 

 Yours truly, W. Bacon. 



Richmond, Massachusetts, 1848. 



THE FRENCH MODE OP SUMMER PRUNING DWARP PEARS. 

 BY PROFESSOR LINDLEY. 



Summer has brought all sorts of inquiries 

 about SUMMER PRUNING. It is needless for 

 us to say that the practice has always been 

 advocated in our columns, and we hardly 

 know how to add to what has been so often 

 urged already. Instead, then, of an argu- 

 ment, we will to-day produce some facts, 

 which we glean from Mr. Thompson's ac- 

 count of his visit to Paris.* 



In the Garden of Plants there exist cer- 

 tain pyramidal pear trees, which may, we 

 believe, be regarded as the most perfect 

 models of management that can anywhere 

 be found. For ourselves we can only say 

 that we did not believe till we saw them 

 that such trees could be formed by art. 

 Not a shoot too many or too few ; not a 



• Journal Hon. Soc, vol. ii., p. 202. 



spur missed ; not a branch misplaced. Had 

 the trees been made up instead of being 

 grown, they could not have been more ad- 

 mirablys ymmetrical. Mr. Thojipson, who 

 appears to have been as much surprised as 

 we were, speaks of them thus : 



" The pyramidal trained pear trees are 

 from 10 to 15 feet high, or more, having a 

 regularly tapering outline from the base to 

 the top, where they terminate in a single 

 shoot. The young plant is stopped accord- 

 ing to its strength, and so as to furnish side 

 branches. These are not in stages at uni- 

 form distances along the stem ; on the con- 

 trary, almost every shoot which breaks out 

 from the stem is allowed to grow ; but the 

 laterals produced on these are pinched i?i sum- 

 mer, and even such of the leading shoots 



