104 THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 



be started. One can generalize to this extent: The heads of varieties with 

 spreading tops should be started higher than those having an upright or 

 pyramidal top. Without question, the choice should be for a low-headed 

 pear-tree. The trunks of pear-trees suffer terribly from blight and sun- 

 scald. The less trunk and the more it is shaded by branches, the less the 

 tree suffers from these two troubles. Also, low trees are more easily sprayed 

 and pruned; the crop is more easily thinned and harvested; crop and tree 

 are less subject to injury by frost; the top is more qmckly formed; and a 

 low-headed tree bears fruit soonest. By low-headed is meant a distance 

 from the ground to the first limb of two feet. 



Two shapes of tops are open to choice — the open-centered and the 

 close-centered. In the open-centered, or vase-form top, the tree consists 

 of a short trunk, surmounted by four or five main branches ascending 

 obliquely. In the close-centered top, the trunk is continued above the 

 lower branches and forms the center of the tree. The close-centered pear- 

 tree produces more fruit and is most easily kept to its shape. No doubt it 

 is best for most varieties. The open-centered tree, with its framework of 

 several main branches, has the advantage when trees are attacked by blight, 

 since if one or two branches are destroyed by the disease a part of the tree 

 may still be saved. The head should never be formed by two central 

 leaders forming a crotch, as the trunk is liable to split and ruin the tree. 



For several years after planting, the pear needs to be pruned only to 

 train the tree to the height of head determined upon and to form the top. 

 Exceptions are the sorts which produce few branches and thus form straggling 

 heads. This defect is overcome by cutting back some of the branches in 

 the spring, an operation which increases the number of branches. A few 

 other sorts, as Winter Nelis and White Doyenne, have drooping, twisting, 

 wayward branches which can be trained into manageable shape only by 

 cutting back or tying the branches in place. Pear-growers as a rule prune 

 young trees too much. Over-pruning increases the growth of wood and 

 leaf too greatly, and thus delays the fruiting of the plant. A good deal 

 might be said about the use and abuse of heading-in pears — that is, cutting 

 back the terminal growths from year to year. Dwarf pears must be 

 headed-in severely to keep the trees down, but standard trees shotild be 

 headed-in only to make the tops thicker and broader — a desirable procedure 

 with some varieties. 



Old trees often need to be pruned to increase their vigor. Such pruning 

 is often spoken of as pruning for wood. When the tops of pear-trees have 



