r4i6 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 27, 1867. 



Myrtle with a few of anotber speciea of scale cu the leaves ; 

 and two plants of EoUisson's Unique relerRonium, a favourite 

 sort of mine, though very liiiblo to be attacked by Rreen fly. A 

 cigar in the evening and a good syringing next morning before 

 the (inn was allowed to ebine upon the plants, have set them 

 free from the pests. The exhausted boiled tobacco should be 

 dried and kept for mild fumigations of delicate plants in flower. 

 — Upwaiids aud Onwaioib. 



PEAR CULTURE. 



{Continued from page 296.) 

 Fijramiilal Trahiiiui. — A maiden tree being planted early in 

 autumn, it should be headed back in llarch to one, or at mosttwo 

 eyes above the place where worked. If, however, it is weak the 

 top should merely he shortened a little, but not so much as to 

 cause the eyes near the ground to break, and in autumn, when 

 established, it must be cut back to one or two eyes above the 

 graft. lu spring a strong shoot will push from one or both of 

 the eyes or buds ; if there be two shoots, the best is to be re- 

 tained, and the other removed. That which is retained should 

 be trained upright, and allowed to grow throughout the season 

 untouched as regards pruniug. 



" In autumn the shoot should be cut down to within 13 inches 

 from the ground, cutting above a bud, and not too close to it, 

 for if the winter prove severe the bud next below the cut may 

 ba injured : therefore, make the cut not less than a quarter of 

 an inch above the bud intended to furnish the leader, nor 

 more than half an inch above it, and in spring, when the re- 

 sulting shoot is but a few inches long, the portion left may be 

 cut off closely, in order that the shooter leader may grow erect. 

 This shoot should be trained upright as a continuation of the 

 stem, and below it other shoots will be produced. These must 

 be under more restraint until the cessation of growth, which will 

 be in September, when the strong should be brought down to 

 the horizontal line, or nearly so, but those that are weak ought 

 to be allowed to remain as they are till they become sufficiently 

 vigorous to be bent down, which will be the case by the autumn 

 or end of summer following that of their production. Although 

 the shoots may not be naturally disposed to form a sym- 

 metrical head, much may be done towards securing such by 

 judicious early training. The laterals, if any, which is rare, 

 need not be stopped, unless they interfere with the shoots ad- 

 joining, when they may be stopped at the sixth leaf. If this 

 be necessary the tree is sufficiently vigorous to allow of the 

 stopping of the upright when it has grown 13 inches, which 

 should be done before midsummer, or not at all, and unless 

 the tree is exceedingly vigorous, the operation is best deferred 

 until the following year, for the side shoots will be much 

 stronger from the mature than from the immature central 

 shoot or stem. 



In November the upright should be pruned 13 inches above 

 the point at which it was last cut ; but if very strong, 15 inches, 

 and if weak only 11 inches. This heading-back will cause 

 shoots to push for the second tier of branches. The laterals 

 npon the lower tier of branches .■should not be stopped in the 

 following Bummer, as it is hardly possible to have the lower 

 branches too strong ; but if the laterals interfere with the 

 shoots above them their points should be taken out at the 

 sixth leaf. When the leader or upright has grown 13 inches 

 its point should be pinched oil, but not unless the tree is 

 vigorous ; for if weak, it is best to secure the iirst, second, and 

 third tiers of horizontals being strong and proceeding from 

 the mature wood ; as regards those towards the top of the 

 tree, the maturity of the wood is of less consequence. I shall 

 presume that the leader has been pinched at 13 inches above 

 where last headed back. Many shoots will be produced at that 

 height, the uppermost of which is to be trained upright, and 

 allowed to grow during the remainder of the season. 



At the winter pruning the upright should be cut back to 

 13 inches above where.it was pinched, and the laterals to within 

 an inch of their base ; the side branches, having been depressed 

 and regulated at the previous winter pruning, are not to be 

 shortened unless beyond the bounds essential in forming that 

 cone or pyramid of which I now propose to treat. I shall now 

 dismiss the stem and side branches by simply stating that they 

 are to be reared and originated in future years as in the past, 

 until the height desired be attained, when the leader is to be 

 closely pinched. 



The width of a pyramid or cone at its ia?e should be one- 

 third the height of the tree. A tree, therefore, having a height 



of 6 feet, should measure 2 feet in width at the lower tier of 

 branches. Supposing trees to be planted by the sides of central 

 walks in kitchen gardens in borders not under 4 feet nor ex- 

 ceeding (j feet in width, the tiees in a four-feet-wide border 

 should be a little more than the width of the border apart, or 

 ii feet, to allow of access to them on every side ; in a hve-feet 

 border, H feet 9 inches ; and in a six-feet border, 7 feet. 



I will take it for granted that the border i84feetwide,aiid the 

 trees 4* feet apart. A tree in such a border will, with two 

 tiers of horizontals from the mature and one from the im- 

 mature or summer growth, appear as represented in./ijr. H. 



Fig. 11. 



Fig. 12. 



The two pegs, a a, are intended to be used in tying down the 

 side branches, i i, in a horizontal position. A line being 

 strung from a to c, above the central stem, and 6 feet from 

 the ground, as indicated by the dotted line a c, will show 

 the places at which the side branches are to be stopped — 

 namely, where the line crosses ihtm. This stopping should 

 be performed in summer ; but as it is most desirable to have 

 the lower branches strong, they should not be stopped until 

 they have exceeded the limits indicated by the dotted lines; 

 and stopping should not be practised until the first tier from 

 the immature wood is taken by stopping the leader. 



In the autumn following, the third year of tiaining, the side 

 branches should be cut back, as shown by the bars in f,g. 11. 

 The knife must in future years not be used except to shorten 

 the central shoot or stem, and to cut the laterals to within a 

 quarter and not more than half an inch of their base. All the 

 side blenches should not be iirst cut close to the dott(d lines, 

 for the upper will grow more freely than the lower ; the upper, 

 therefore, should be shortened more than the lower — for in- 

 stance, h may be cr.t at the dotted line, the next tier above at an 

 inch from it, and the third 2 inches, reckoning from the central 

 stem. 



The following year the base of the tree should be extended, 

 as shown in I'ip. 12, still taking the line up no higher than 

 before. The dotted lines are intended to show this. Kow, the 



