

CULTURAL METHODS FOR PEARS 1009 



PRUNING 



After the first year, prune very little only for shaping the 

 tree a trifle or to remove blight. .Much pruning will retard coming 

 into bearing. All sprouts and suckers on the trunk and large 

 limbs should be removed promptly when they first appear, so 

 that if blight strikes the tree it will not be carried into those 

 parts. If the smaller limbs blight they may be removed without 

 so much loss to the tree. 



When an orchard is in full bearing it usually requires some 

 thinning of the branches to admit light and produce larger and 

 better fruit. Some va rieties for instance, Anjou and Kieffer 

 require especially severe pruning. Anjou needs pruning to make 

 it bear heavily, as well as to increase the size and quality of the 

 fruit. Some orchardists practice cutting their Kieffers as severely 

 as tli<'\ do their grape vines, taking off nearly all the new growth 

 each year. 



When an orchard is very old and the limbs have become brittle, 

 it is well to renew by cutting off some of the old limbs and allow- 

 ing new shoots to make the tree. 



INTERCROPPING 



It is not profitable to grow pears and grass or grain on the same 

 ground. Other crops may be grown if cultivated, though the 

 digging of potatoes in the early fall w r ill sometimes start a late, 

 soft growth, which is more liable to winterkill or to be affected 

 with blight the next season. When the trees are nearly large 

 enough to cover the ground, it is not usually profitable to plant 

 other crops among them. The ground should be plowed and har- 

 rowed in the early spring, and cultivation continued until the 

 cover crop is put on. 



COVER CROPS 



A cover crop is quite important to save fertility and check an 

 excessive late fall growth of the trees. Weeds will do for a cover 

 crop, although after good summer cultivation they are usually 

 not thick enough unless sown. Vetch, barley, clover and turnip 

 is a good combination, if it will catch and grow. Rye and vetch 



