132 GROWING FRUIT AND PRUNING TREES [en. 



rubbish, cover over the roots with fresh mould, and 

 secure the tree with cords and stakes. 



Pears. There is no more deservedly popular fruit than 

 the Pear, and no country in which its flavour is so excellent 

 as our own. For many reasons, chiefly perhaps on account 

 of its earlier blooms, the Pear is not nearly so hardy or 

 so suitable for all districts as the apple. 



The soil best fitted for pear trees is that which is more 

 nearly loam than sand, with a dry sub-soil. It is useless 

 to plant them in light, poor, cold, or wet ground. 



The most suitable for garden culture are those grafted 

 on the Quince stock, which gives them a moderately 

 compact habit. 



They should be pruned with the object of repressing 

 all redundant and crowded growths, and of promoting 

 fruit spurs. 



When in June the young side shoots have made six or 

 eight leaves, they should be pinched back to four, and 

 should these spurs bud out again, they should be nipped 

 to one leaf. 



The leading shoots of the tree may be allowed to 

 grow and draw up sap to the end of the summer. When 

 the crop is evidently too large, the fruit should be judi- 

 ciously thinned as the season advances. 



Apples. The best soil for Apples is deep, strong, 

 adhesive loam on a dry sub-soil. The Kentish growers 

 prefer the side of a hill to the low level ground. Pyramids 



