544 HOW TO MAKE THE FARM PAY. 



lowest brandies should not be over three or four feet from the 

 cround. Dwarf pears on quince stocks are cultivated much 

 lower. All agree that the pyramid is the best shape for the 

 pear and each pruning should have reference to this shape. 

 No grass or grain should ever be allowed in the pear orchard, 

 but all root crops are beneficial as for the apple. A small strip 

 can be flowed by*the use of the short whiffletree, but most of 

 the cultivation must be done with the spade, digging fork, and 

 hoe. The pear must not be allowed to bear too early or too 

 profusely. It requires a great deal of courage to pick off half 

 the young fruit from a tree, but that which matures will be the 

 larger and finer, and the exhaustion to the tree not so great, 

 even if the weight of fruit is the same. The tree is exhausted 

 not by the amount in weight of fruit that it bears, but by the 

 number of specimens in which it perfects the seeds. Fruit 

 growers will do well to bear this in mind. For market or 

 kitchen gardens the pear should usually be cultivated ON" 

 QuixcE Stocks. The quince is a valuable tree of itself, but as 

 a stock for the pear, it is of the greatest importance. It is 

 usually propagated by layers when cultivated for its fruit. {See 

 purje 521.) The soil for the quince should be deep, and rich, and 

 well cultivated. The common method of setting the bush and 

 letting it take care of itself hjusi as ridiculous as for the farmer 

 to leave his corn in the same way. They should be pruned 

 aimually, and never allowed to grow bushy. As they are 

 usually near the house, they should be treated to frequent 

 doses of soapsuds, and the soil about their roots kept mellow. 

 Quince trees treated in this way will yield enormous crops i^ 

 proportion to the size of the tree. The Orange Quince, of 

 which we have a beautiful illustration in the colored plate, is 

 the favorite for the garden. For stocks for the pear a different 

 mode of propagation is practised, as described and illustrated on 

 1 previous page. 



