70 



JOUENAIi OF HOBTICUIiTUBH AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ Janaary 24, 18fi7' 



the credit of makiDR the first exhibition of the Castor-oil Bean 

 in any quantity. There was a large sample of nearly 100 lbs. 

 exhibited by J. D. Blanchar, Esq., grown near Marysville. 



We obtained the following statistics : — Dr. McDonald has 

 this year one hundred acres of Castor-oil Beans. Mr. Chas. 

 Justice has a field of five acres. W. H. Drum and many other 

 persons have grown a greater or less number of acres, and this 

 beginning has given assurance that the work that thus began 

 will be continued, and the Castor-oil Bean and the oil from it 

 wiU ere long be numbered among our valuable exports. — {Cali- 

 fornia Farmer.) 



PEAR CULTURE. 



{Co7itimied from, page 51.) 

 rRUNixo AND tiu:ning. 



Espalier or Horizontal Taining. — Commencing with amaiden 

 tree, which is one that has never been headed or cut back, it wiU 

 have a clean, straight stem, and be moderately strong, or rather 

 such trees are to be preferred, as 

 the buds are not so widely distri- 

 buted. It should be planted care- 

 fully and early in autumn after the 

 leaves begin to fall. If they have 

 fallen, or from the fall of the leaf 

 to the middle of February, or be- 

 ginning of March, during mild 

 weather, the tree should be cut 

 fcack to within 1 foot of the ground, 

 always cutting from the back of 

 the bud, as shown by the bar at 

 a, fig. 3, indicating the cut. This 

 ■will be the commencement of the 

 first season's pruning. 



Shoots will be produced in spring 

 from the three uppermost buds, 

 that situated the highest should 

 be trained upright, and the other 

 two respectively to the right and 

 left, and as nearly at an angle of 

 43° as can be; only if one grow 

 stronger than another depress it, 

 and raise that which is weak, so that shoots as nearly as 

 possible of equal strength may be produced. This is a main 

 point, and must be attended to ; for if a shoot once be formed 

 weak, it is difficult to render it equally strong with its neigh- 

 bours, and a tree with longer shoots on one side or part than 

 the other is neither pleasing nor profitable. This is the first 

 season's treatment as regards pruning and training. 



In the autumn the appearance of the tree will be somewhat 

 similar to that represented in fig. 4, and the upright shoot 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



should be cut to within 1 foot of the point at which it was first 

 shortened, or as near to that as a bud with two buds below it 

 eligible for horizontals will permit. It should be remembered at 

 the time of shortening the upright shoot, that 1 foot is the dis- 

 tance to be allowed between the horizontals ; therefore, they, 

 or the buds left to produce them, should be a little below the 

 line along which they are ultimately to be trained. This will 

 be readily understood on reference to ^ir;. 4, in which 6 is the 

 place where the upright shoot is cut, and c c the horizontal 



line. As the side, and particularly the lowest branches (it is 

 usual to term a shoot of the current year, and until it produces 

 secondary shoots a " shoot," but afterwards a brancl^hen it 

 produces side shoots, whether headed or not), cannot be too 

 strong they should not be depressed or brought to the hori- 

 zontal line for another year ; and any shoots they may produce 

 should be allowed to grow unchecked, unless they become too 

 strong for the leaders, when they should be brought back,to six 

 leaves. The leaders of the side branches and upright are not 

 to be stopped, but should respectively be carried to the right 

 and left, and that of the upright in a vertical direction ; and 

 the side shoots are to be trained at an angle of 45°, as in the 

 first season. The shoots or laterals from the two side branches, 

 if stopped at the sixth leaf, may shoot again ; these are not to 

 be stopped for the present. 



Fig. 5. 



In the autumn of the second year the tree will somewhat le- 

 semble/(7. 5. The leader or upright shoot should be cut back 

 to a, in the same way as it was in the preceding season, and 

 the laterals, h b, shortened to two eyes, and to not more than an 

 inch in length. The shoots upon the side branches will come 

 from the eyes left on the lateral wood. Such shoots are to 

 have their points taken out when they have made six leaves, 

 and sub-laterals being produced from them, such are to be 

 stopped at the third leaf. The side branches may remain for 

 another season at an angle of 45° ; that, and the laterals not 

 being close-pinched, will secure for them more vigour than were 

 they trained horizontally, and the laterals closely pinched. The 

 bars show where the knife is to be used. 



In the autumn of the third season the tree may have the 

 lowest pair of side branches brought to the horizontal line, 

 Jig. 6, a a, those of the last year's production still being re- 

 tained at an angle of 45° for another season, when they are to 

 be brought to the horizontal line, the leader or upright being 

 cut back as before to furnish the leader and side branches of 

 the foilowing year. The side shoots, b b, are not to be shortened, 

 nor the growth or leading shoots of the side branches, a a a a, 

 in this or subsequent seasons, until they reach the limit of the 

 space they are to occupy. Tlie laterals, d d d d, must be cut 

 in to two eyes or buds in this and all subsequent seasons, but 

 the very short, stubby growths about an inch in length, and 

 which produce a tuft of leaves, are never to be cut, but should 

 be left at their full length. These are spurs upon which the 

 fruit of the Pear is produced, and are represented at c c, bijig. 5, 

 and I' e e e.fig. 6. 



The following year's treatment is simply a repetition of that 

 in the preceding one ; the two side branches produced in the 

 previous season are to be brought to the horizontal hue, and 

 those of the year allowed to grow at an angle of 45° for a twelve- 

 month longer, when they are also to be brought to the hori- 

 zontal line. In after-years, stopping the laterals, shortening 

 in autumn to two buds or an inch, heading down the upright 

 shoot, training in the side shoots at an angle of 45° for two 

 seasons, and subsequently bringing them to a horizontal 

 position, should be persevered in until the upright reaches the 

 top of the wall. When the tree attains nearly the height of 

 the wall, it will not be convenient to train the side branches at 

 an angle of 45°, neither is it desirable, as they wUl acquire 



