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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



DWARF PEARS. 



*HERE is one special advantage in 

 gTowing dwarfs, over standards, 

 and that is the ease of gathering 

 ^pj the fruit. Few, however, seem to 

 have the best success with a dwarf pear 

 orchard, owing to common faults of treat- 

 ment. 



These are (i) planting on poor soil. A 

 thin light sand is the worst possible, and 

 would not yield fruit of large size, nor any 

 quantity of it. A sandy loam will do very 

 well, but a rich clay loam, well drained, is 

 best of all. 



(2) Lack of Cultivation. No worse treat- 

 ment could be given than to leave a dwarf 

 pear orchard in sod, or without cultivation. 

 A standard pear tree strikes its roots down 

 deep, and may endure neglect and yet give 

 good crops of fruit, but the quince roots, on 

 which the pear is dwarfed, are surface feed- 

 ers, and cannot thrive without good tillage. 



(3) Lack of Manure. Here is a common 

 fault with all orchards, and the pear is per- 

 haps more often neglected than the apple or 

 the peach : as a standard, it will endure much 

 abuse and neglect, yet succeed fairly well. 

 The dwarf, however, is different. Its quince 

 roots do not reach out very far to collect 

 nourishment, and unless the soil about the 

 tree is both well cultivated and made rich in 

 fertility, little result may be expected in 

 fruitfulness. 



C. S. Mills, of Allegan Co., Michigan, 

 has a fine dwarf pear orchard of 1200 trees, 

 a great commercial success. He speaks as 

 follows on this question of cultivation and 

 manure : 



"Plow up to the trees in the Fall, and away 

 from them in the Spring ; thus the ground is kept 

 nearly level during the working season, and when 

 cold weather comes, the ridging up assists drain- 

 age, and also helps protect the tree roots. For 

 the first three years almost any hoed or cultivated 

 crop may be grown among the trees ; after that, 

 they should have all the ground to themselves — 



with regfular harrowings up to about August ist. 

 At the last cultivation, oats, Crimson clover, or 

 some other green crop may be sown to hold the 

 ground and plow under in the Spring: One word 

 as to plowing : do it either before the trees blos- 

 som, or after ; never work the ground when the 

 trees are in blossom. 



' ' The manure question is one that every pear 

 grower has his own notion about. Most growers 

 believe that stable manure is bad for pear trees — 

 that it causes the blight— that the trees must be 

 kept back rather than pushed along. Such is not 

 my idea. For ten successive years these trees 

 had a good warm coat of strawy manure applied 

 in the fall or early winter. For the last six years 

 they have had nothing. Blight has bothered us 

 but little, in all this time. But the trees grew, 

 and are still growing; what's more, they bore 

 young, and are still bearing." 



(4) Neglect of Pruning \^ another serious 

 mistake of dwarf pear growers ; or if they 

 prune it is without a system, or indeed any 

 definite idea of form or symmetry. A dwarf 

 tree under such treatment soon grows too 

 high, and when laden with fruit soon breaks 

 off at the point of union. Proper treatment 

 of a dwart demands annual and vigorous 

 cutting back of all new wood if over a foot 

 in length. The idea in mind for a dwart 

 pear should be pyramidal, thus causing all 

 the heavier branches to grow near the 

 ground, and the fruit to be within reach. 



Figure 1808 gives a good 

 idea of the general form 

 which we should aim at in 

 pruning our dwarf pears, 

 and should be persistently 

 carried out. 



(5) Unprofitable Varieties 

 are another cause of failure. 

 The Bartlett, for example, 

 is not a success as a dwarf ; 

 while on the other hand ^. 

 the finest Duchess, Anjou, 

 Clairgeau and Louis Bonne, Fig. i8u8. 

 grow on dwarf stock. — 



These last are four varieties which seem 

 to take with our English relations, and 

 should be the chief varieties now planted for 



