3i8 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



PEAR CULTURE. 



S the pear is a very profitable and delicious fruit, when it is 

 profitably grown, it should give most desirable results. 



The Soil. — Pears may be grown profitably both on light 

 and heavy soils. A rich soil and good culture is essential 

 to success in pear growing. The best fertilizers for the 

 pear are ashes, bone dust, potash, etc. Stable manure may 

 be used moderately, but excess tends to produce black- 

 heart in the wood. 



Pruning. — The dwarf varieties should be pruned more 

 severely than the standards. To attain the pyramidal form in the dwarf, after 

 the first season's growth shorten the main stem or leader, so as to encourage a 

 stronger growth in the lower branches. After the second season shorten the 

 leader again, and also cut back the lower or side shoots to give the tree the 

 proper form. The young growth should be nipped off from the side shoots in 

 order to form fruit spurs for the next season. One of the new shoots should be 

 left as a leader to each parent shoot. Standards will require some pruning to 

 develop symmetrically, and if they are tardy bearers they should be freely pruned. 

 Feeble growers in poor soils need little pruning. All ingrmving branches should 

 be entirely removed. 



Varieties. — About three thousand sorts are known, yet not more than 

 twenty-five or thirty are valuable for general cultivation. An American fruit- 

 grower after testing three hundred sorts, recommends the following for general 

 culture : — Bloodgood, Clapp's Favorite, Julienne, Bartlett, Seckel, Shelden, 

 Lawrence, Buffum, Beurre Bosc, Belle Lucrative, St. Michael's Archangel, 

 Beurre Clairgeau, Rutter, Beurre D'Anjou, Doyenne Boussock, Duchess, 

 Urban iste. 



Grafting. — Early in the spring is the best time, when the buds begin to 

 swell. The scions should be cut a few weeks before being used, and placed in 

 cool, moist sand. Cleft grafting is more suitable for large stock, and whip graft- 

 ing for small. In cleft grafting the stalk should be cut off" square and smooth, 

 and then divided in the centre by a sharp steel wedge. The graft should be 

 cut in the shape of a wedge, and inserted till it fills the cleft made by the wedge. 

 The line of division between the bark and wood of the graft should coincide 

 exactly with that of the stock. Whip grafting is done by cutting both scion and 

 stock diagonally, so that the parts coming together shall fit exactly. 



Three parts of resin, two parts of tallow, and three parts of beeswax make 

 a good grafting wax. 



Tiverton. A. H. Cameron. 



