148 PRXTNING. 



Urbaniste, 1123011 pear stock, and with naked trunks, 

 of live or six feet, are not unfrequentlj fifteen years 

 producing their first fruit. "With low-trained pyra- 

 mids, and a slight attention to summer pruning or 

 pinching, this tedious and discouraging delay is most 

 certainly shortened to six or eight years. The cause 

 of this precocity is, that the sap, checked by the sum- 

 mer pinching in its fiow to the terminal bud, is dis- 

 tributed to the wood-buds below, and sufiicient nutri- 

 ment is received to mature them into fruit-buds. 



A certain age of bark and cellular woody formation 

 of a branch is necessary before it will cause the sap 

 to flow slowly enough to concentrate into fruit-juice. 

 !N'ow, if the earlier branches, formed near the ground, 

 and then, in succession, those above, are cut away, 

 until a naked trunk is formed, it is evident we pro- 

 tract the fruit-bearing period. Besides, the pruning 

 away of so much wood forces an over-abundance of 

 sap to the terminal buds, and its energies are spent in 

 wood-growth, at the expense of fruit-bud formation. 

 When, however, branches start from or near the 

 ground, having the same age with the trunk, fruit- 

 buds are formed long before they could have been on 

 long-trunk trees ; the sap is more evenly distributed, 

 wood-growth is moderately checked, and the culti- 

 vator's eye is early gladdened with golden fruit. 



3. The size and quality of fruit is much increased 

 by this method of training. It has long been known, 

 that young trees produce larger fruit, but deficient in 

 flavor ; old trees produce fruit of superior taste, but 

 inferior in size. In the pyramid, we are able to secure 

 these excellences, and rid ourselves of the faults. In 



