296 [ THE SERVICE TREE 



ground, or at a height of one or two metres, so that a tall 

 tree with a good crown of foliage may be had in a short 

 time, which will settle to fruit in a few years. 



The service tree may be planted four metres apart, 

 and it is the custom to plant it very deep, under the 

 impression that it will live longer and that it will produce 

 fruit more quickly, but there is nothing to show that this 

 practice is really well founded. When established, the 

 tree requires no particular care in the matter of cultiva- 

 tion. Pruning should be limited to the removal of dead 

 or diseased wood, and to the clearing of the suckers if too 

 numerous; but should the tree be too slow to bear fruit, 

 the branches may be ringed or twisted slightly to provoke 

 an early formation of flower buds. 



There are two forms of the common service tree. 

 That usually met with in our gardens has a tall erect 

 stem and a spreading crown of branches, and produces 

 apple-shaped or round fruits (var: pomifera Goir.); the 

 other form is rather rare being probably a recent intro- 

 duction, and has stiff and erect branches and thick and 

 vigorous twigs, and leaves slightly larger than those of 

 the former, and produces oval or pear shaped fruits 

 (var: pirifera Goir.). One or two forms producing larger 

 fruits of the round or apple-shaped type have been intro- 

 duced from Sicily and Italy; and a new French variety, 

 U Poitevin, producing large fruits of the pear-shaped 

 type, has been introduced in 1910. 



DISEASES. 



The fruit of the service tree is attacked by the fruit 

 fly almost as frequently as the pear, and although the 

 eggs deposited by the fly often fail to develop into 

 maggots, yet the puncture causes the fruit to rot or drop 

 off the tree, and it is therefore advisable to protect the 

 truit by the use of cloth bags, one bag for each cluster, 

 as recommended for the fruit of the pear. The larva of 

 the moth Zeuzera Aesculi L. forms tunnels in the 



