546 THE PEAR. 



possible, in order that the moisture of the soil may aid in the swelling 

 of the stock, which, notwithstanding this care, generally remains of 

 smaller diameter than the apple or pear grafted on it, and thus acts 

 like the operation of ringing in increasing the fruitfulness of the tree. 

 The quince, as it grows naturally in situations within the reach of 

 water, is evidently the best stock for moist soils, and it is also thought 

 the best for clayey and light soft soils; while for chalky and silicious 

 soils, and gravels of every kind, the pear stock is recommended. The 

 pear does not unite very readily with the apple, and when it does so, 

 is but of short duration. When grafted on a pear stock the plants have 

 fewer fibrous roots, in proportion to the bulk and age of the plant, 

 than the apple on a crab stock ; and hence it requires more care in 

 taking up for removal, and in the nursery requires to be more fre- 

 quently transplanted than the apple. As quince stocks have more 

 fibrous roots than pear stocks, the pear on them is transplanted without 

 difficulty. 



Soil, Situation, and Final Planting. The pear grows naturally on a 

 much poorer and drier soil than the apple, but to produce large crops 

 of excellent fruit it requires like it a deep loamy soil on a dry subsoil. 

 On a wet subsoil the pear will not thrive nor produce good fruit. The 

 distances at which the pear ought to be planted against a wall may be 

 somewhat greater than that for the apple, or from twenty-five to thirty 

 feet against a wall twelve feet high. The distances for espaliers, dwarfs, 

 coaes, cordons, dwarfing stocks, and trees in orchards, have been 

 already given, pp. 391, 400. 



The mode of bearing, pruning, and training the pear is much the 

 same as for the apple, but in most of the varieties the spurs are some- 

 what longer in being formed, being generally produced on two years' 

 old wood, instead of the former year's wood. The branches of standard 

 pears are also less liable to cross each other than those of the apple, 

 and hence pear-trees in an orchard require comparatively little 

 pruning. The more they are cut in, the more breast wood they make, 

 and close spurring is apt to engender sterility. The remedy for this 

 is summer pinching, laying in or allowing plenty of young wood to 

 remain, and root-pruning. Any pruning that is needed in winter 

 should be deferred until the blossoms are nearly expanded in the 

 spring, to keep the latter as safe as possible from spring frosts. 



In training the pear on walls or espaliers horizontally, the ordinary 

 distance between the shoots is from nine inches to twelve inches, the 

 latter distance being adopted for large-leaved pears, such as the Jargo- 

 nelle ; but for shy-bearing pears, which always are most prolific on 

 young spurs, it has been proposed to have the main branches at double 

 the distance, and to lay in laterals from them at regular intervals, as in 

 fig. 365. These laterals in two or three years will be covered with 

 spurs and blossom-buds, and will be more certain of producing fruit 

 than the spurs on the main branches. They can be renewed at 

 pleasure, by cutting them off, having previously encouraged young 

 shoots to supply their place. In pursuit of the same object, fruitful- 



