PEAR 



PEAR 



2511 



but they are liable to be attacked by mildew of the foli- 

 age, for which reason they must be closely watched, 

 and should the malady prove troublesome the budding 

 must be done as soon as properly matured buds can be 

 obtained. Such stocks as, for any cause, were left 

 unbudded at budding time, together with any in which 

 buds shall have failed, may be grafted the following 

 spring; but this, as well as any and all grafting of the 

 pear, must be done very early, before the earliest move- 

 ment of the sap in spring. In the spring, as soon as the 

 swelling of the buds indicates that the germs are alive, 

 the stocks are cut back to force them into growth. 

 Often to insure the formation of straight, upright, sym- 

 metrical trees, careful nurserymen leave 3 or 4 inches of 

 the stock above the insertion of the bud, to which the 

 young shoots may be tied, if it shall fail otherwise to 

 take an upright direction. Shoots may also be thus tied 

 to prevent their being blown out, or otherwise injured 

 by the wind. These stubs should be cut back to the 

 bud when no longer needed for the purposes indicated. 

 Such sprouts as spring from the stock in consequence of 

 the cutting back must be removed from time to time to 

 encourage the growth of the bud. This should be done 

 while they are yet tender and succulent and can, there- 

 fore, be taken off without the use of a knife. This pro- 

 cess must be repeated as they reappear, unless it is 

 rendered unnecessary by the failure or loss of the bud. 



Pruning. 



Beyond that described under the head of budding, 

 little pruning is required during the first season, except 

 to pinch in such side shoots as threaten to rob the one 

 intended to become the trunk of the future tree. Early 

 in the spring of the second year, all lateral shoots must 

 be wholly cut away, and since the pear tends strongly 

 to renew its growth from the terminal buds of the 

 previous year, the shoot intended to become the trunk 

 of the future tree must be cut down to the point at 

 which the top is to commence, when the branches to 

 form the head will start from the buds nearest the top. 

 The uppermost shoot must, if needful, be confined in 

 an upright position to constitute the continuation of 

 the trunk. 



The habits of growth of varieties differ so widely 

 that no inflexible rule can be laid down to determine 

 the height at which the top of a pear tree should be 

 commenced, unless it be that the heads of the more 

 spreading varieties should be started higher than those 

 of a more upright habit. The preferences of the 

 larger number of purchasers have begotten among nur- 

 serymen the practice of forming the heads of all varie- 

 ties at a height of 3 or 4 feet. This height is open to the 

 objection that, while not seriously faulty in the case of 

 such spreading varieties as Onondaga, Osband (Sum- 

 mer), or Flemish (Beauty), it is essentially unsuited to 

 such very upright growers as Buffum, Sterling, Clapp 

 (Favorite), and even Anjou. In this particular, as in 

 various others, the practice of nurserymen, begotten by 

 the preferences of the average of their customers, fails 

 to adapt itself to the needs of the more intelligent and 

 considerate orchardist, and to those of even smaller 

 planters, who regard the health and productiveness of 

 their trees as of higher importance than the possibly 

 increased convenience of cultivation. 



A proper system of primary branches, upon which to 

 grow a permanent head, should be provided from the 

 growth of the second season. Probably the most satis- 

 factory provision for this purpose consists of a central 

 shoot, with from three to five laterals diverging from 

 the trunk at its base. A head should, in no case, be 

 grown upon two shoots, forming a crotch, since this will 

 be very liable to split and thus ruin the tree. A few 

 varieties, of which Rostiezer is a notable example, have 

 the habit of producing but few branches, and also of 

 making successive annual growths, mainly from the 

 terminal buds of the previous year, thus forming a too 



open or straggling head. Such tendency is best over- 

 come by cutting back the branches in spring, the effect 

 being to increase their number, though at the expense 

 of vigor. 



After the primary branches have been developed, and 

 the growth of the third year is in progress, compara- 

 tively little pruning will be found necessary beyond the 

 occasional cutting away of a straggling or crossing 

 branch, although there is a class of varieties, of which 

 Summer Doyenne and Winter Nelis are types, which, 

 especially when growing vigorously, incline to twist and 



2814. Seckel, the standard of quality. 



straggle so awkwardly that the branches must fre- 

 quently be tied in position to insure the formation of a 

 satisfactory head. 



Prior to the third or fourth year, all pruning must 

 necessarily have for its object the direction and encour- 

 agement of wood-growth, for which purpose it is most 

 effective when performed in late winter or early spring, 

 while the trees are yet dormant. 



The fact should not be forgotten that pruning, in pro- 

 portion to its extent or severity, may be a tax upon the 

 vigor and health of the tree, and, therefore, to be prac- 

 tised as sparingly as possible. Such necessity may be 

 to a considerable extent avoided if the orchardist, with 

 a well-defined ideal in mind of a tree such as he desires 

 to produce, will, during the growing season, pass fre- 

 quently through his plantation and pinch out, while 

 yet small and succulent, all growths not needed for his 

 purpose, at the same tune "stopping" such of the 

 reserved ones as may be too far outgrowing their 

 fellows. With the efficient performance of this process 

 while the framework of the top is being developed, very 

 little pruning will remain to be done on the arrival of 

 spring, while nearly the entire growth, which would 

 otherwise have been pruned away in spring, will have 

 been employed in developing the reserved branches. 



While the cutting away of an occasional small branch 

 may be done at almost any time, large branches should 

 be removed only in case of actual necessity, and at a 

 period early enough to permit the thorough drying and 

 hardening of the cut surface prior to the movement of 

 the sap in spring, as a means of preventing bleeding 

 and consequent decay. 



Summer pruning tends to check rather than encour- 

 age wood-growth, and since it acts to a greater or less 

 extent as an obstruction to the circulation, it also tends,. 



