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P Y H 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



P Y R 



of the soil, and save the bringing in new earth. If the ground 

 can be prepared one year before it is planted, the trees will 

 thrive the better; for by laying the ground in ridges, and 

 turning it over two or three times, it will loosen the soil, and 

 render it much better for planting. Where there is any neces- 

 sity of bringing fresh earth for the borders, it will be pro- 

 per to do it as soon as possible, and to mix this with the sur- 

 face of the earth of the borders, that it may be turned over 

 two or three times, that the parts may be well mixed and 

 ineorporated before the trees are planted, adding to it some 

 very rotten dung. In chusing the earth which is to be brought 

 into the garden, take care that if the natural soil of the gar- 

 den be light and dry, the new earth should be loamy and 

 stiff; but where the natural soil is strong and loamy, then 

 the new earth should be light and sandy. Some persons 

 recommend laying the whole depth of the borders with what 

 they call virgin earth, that is, such as is taken from a pasture 

 where the land has not been ploughed; but unless it be 

 brought into the garden at least a year before the trees are 

 planted, and turned over to sweeten it, this will not be so 

 good as that which is taken from a kitchen-garden, where 

 the land is good, and has been well wrought; for by often 

 turning and breaking the soil, ft will be better prepared for 

 receiving the tiees. In making t'he borders on wet ground, 

 covered drains must be formed to carry off the water in win- 

 ter, otherwise it will greatly injure if not destroy the trees. 

 In building the walls round a kitchen-garden, where the 

 ground is inclinable to be wet, there should be some arches 

 turned in the foundations of those walls, at the lowest part 

 of the garden, to let off the moisture. The manner of prepar- 

 ing these trees for planting is the same as has been directed 

 for other fruit-trees, viz. to cgt off all the small fibres from 

 the roots, and to shorten some of the longest roots, and cut 

 off all the bruised ones, or such as shoot downright; this 

 being done, plant them at the distance already mentioned. 

 The best time to plant them, if upon a middling or dry soil, 

 is in October or November, leaving their heads on till spring, 

 which should be fastened either to the walls or stakes, to pre- 

 vent the wind from disturbing their roots; and in the begin- 

 ning of March the heads should be cut off in the manner 

 already directed for Peaches and other fruit-trees, observing 

 also to lay some mulch upon the surface of the ground about 

 their roots when they are planted. In wet ground, the trees 

 may be planted in February, or at the beginning of March, 

 at any time before the buds are much swelled ; but these 

 may be cut down when they are planted. The first summer 

 after planting, the branches should be trained to a wall or 

 espalier, (against whichever they are planted,) without short- 

 ening them, in a horizontal position as they are produced ; 

 and at the Michaelmas following, some of these shoots should 

 be shortened down to five or six eyes, in order to obtain a 

 sufficient quantity of branches to furnish the lower part of 

 the wall or espaliers : but the shoots ought not to be short- 

 ened, unless where there is a want of branches to fill a 

 vacancy; therefore the less a knife is used to these trees, the 

 better they will succeed; for when the shoots are stopped, 

 it occasions the buds immediately below the cuts to send 

 forth two or more shoots, whereby there will be a confusion 

 of branches, and fruit is rarely produced under this manage- 

 ment. The distance at which the branches of Pears should 

 be trained, must be proportioned to the size of their fruit; 

 therefore such sorts, the fruit of which are small, may be 

 allowed five or six inches, but the larger at least require 

 seven or eight. If this be observed, and the branches trained 

 horizontally as they are produced, there will be no occasion 

 for so much cutting as is generally practised on these trees, 



which, instead of checking their growth, causes them to shoot 

 the stronger. The following are the directions of Mr. Miller 

 for the pruning and proper management of these trees; by 

 which, he asserts, a learner will be sufficiently instructed in 

 the shortest way possible. Pear-trees generally produce their 

 blossom-buds first at the extremity of the last year's shoots, 

 so that if they are shortened, the blossoms are cut off; this 

 occasions the buds immediately below the cut to put forth 

 two or more shoots, which will increase the number of 

 branches, and crowd the trees with too much wood. Besides, 

 those buds which by the management produce shoots, would 

 have only produced cursons or spurs, upon which the blos- 

 som-buds are produced, if the leading branch had not been 

 shortened ; therefore these should never be shortened, unless 

 to furnish wood for a vacancy. It is not necessary to pro- 

 vide a new supply of wood in Pear-trees, as must be done 

 for Peaches, Nectarines, &c. which only produce their fruit 

 upon young wood, for Pears produce theirs upon cursons or 

 spurs emitted from branches of three or four years old. 

 During summer, these trees should be often looked over to 

 train in the shoots, as they are produced regularly to the 

 wall or espalier, and to displace foreright and luxuriant 

 branches as they shoot out, whereby the fruit will be equally 

 exposed to the air and sun, which will render them more 

 beautiful and better tasted than when they are shaded by 

 the branches ; and by thus managing the trees in sum- 

 mer, they will always appear beautiful, and will require but 

 little pruning in winter. Where Pear-trees are thus regularly 

 trained without stopping their shoots, and have full room 

 for their branches to extend on each side, there will never 

 be any occasion for disbarking the branches, or cutting off 

 the roots, which methods, however they may answer the 

 intention for the present, will certainly injure the trees, as 

 must all violent amputations; which should as much as pos- 

 sible be avoided in the management of fruit-trees. The sea- 

 son for pruning these trees is any time after the fruits are 

 fathered, until the beginning of March ; but the sooner it is 

 done after the fruit is gathered, the better, for the same rea- 

 sons already given for pruning of Peach-trees; see Amygdalus. 

 The deferring of this indeed till spring, where there are large 

 quantities of trees to prune, is not so injurious to them as to 

 some tender fruits; but if the branches are regularly trained 

 in summer, and the luxuriant shoots nibbed off, there will be 

 little left to do to them in winter. All the sorts of Summer 

 Pears will ripen very well on standards, dwarfs, or espaliers, 

 and so will Autumn Pears ; but where persons are very curious 

 in their fruit, they should plant them against espaliers, in 

 which method they take up but little room in the garden, 

 and, if well managed, appear very beautiful; and the fruit 

 is larger and better tasted than those produced on dwarfs, 

 as before observed ; but some of the Winter Pears must be 

 planted against east, south-east, or south-west walls, other- 

 wise they will not ripen well in unfavourable seasons. But 

 though this may be the case with some of the late Winter 

 Pears, yet most of them ripen extremely well in all warm 

 situations, when they are planted in espalier, and the fruit 

 will be better flavoured than that which grows against walls, 

 and will keep much longer good ; for as the heat against 

 walls which are exposed to the sun will be very great at some 

 times, and at others there will be little warmth, all fruit 

 which grow near them will be hastened unequally, and there- 

 fore are never so well flavoured as the same sorts are which 

 ripen in the open air; and all the fruit which is thus un- 

 equally ripened, will decay much sooner than those which 

 ripen gradually in the open air; therefore those Winter Pears 

 which grow in espalier may be kept six weeks longer than 



