THE PEAR TREE ] 199 



a cross, and in their turn are stopped when they reach 

 40 or 50 c. m. from the leader in the centre : from 

 each of them two shoots are trained and curved upwards 

 and then slightly outwards, so that the vase will have 

 eight principal shoots or branches on which the fruit 

 spurs are encouraged to grow. Vases with only six 

 branches or with ten or twelve branches are formed 

 in the same manner, but for cultural reasons the vase 

 with eight branches is more desirable. 



The "contre-espallier" \ obtained by training the tree 

 to wire supports in a manner so as to form a continuous 

 line or wall. The same trees when trained against a 

 wall are "espalliers". It is important that the frame 

 of stretched wire to support the contre-espallier be 

 directed from north to south so that the sun may 

 act on both sides of the tree either in the morning 

 or in the afternoon. The contre-espallier may have 

 a single or a multiple stem. The single-stemmed 

 type is the cordon, which may be vertical, oblique, 

 and double-oblique or losenge. The horizontal and the 

 convolute or spiral are mere modifications of the same. 

 The vertical cordon is the simplest, the trees being 

 planted only 60 c. m. apart, and trained to one straight 

 vertical stem, two or three metres high, the formation 

 of fruit spurs being encouraged all along the stem to 

 within 30 c. m. from the ground. The oblique cordon 

 is the same form, with a straight stem, but obliquely 

 trained to the supports at an angle of 45; trees so 

 trained are supposed to be more productive than vertical 

 cordons. 



The double oblique cordon is obtained by stopping 

 the leader in the first year at 25 c. m. from the ground, 

 and two stems or leaders are then retained one on 

 each side, training them obliquely at 90 apart, preferably 

 one stem on each side of the wire, so that stems trained 

 in the same direction may be on the same side of 

 the wire. Wheri properly trained the stems of the 



