430 THE ORCHARD. [JUNE 



should be most depressed. These three or four constitute the com- 

 mencement of the first or lower tier. For the next tier, head back 

 the upright leader to within eighteen inches of its base, if the soil is 

 rich ; if not, to fifteen inches ; and from the shoots produced in the 

 following season from buds, just under the cut, train a shoot for a 

 leader, and three or four somewhat horizontally, as before, for a 

 second tier. Precisely in this manner tier after tier must be started, 

 till the tree attain its assigned height. All this can be effected in 

 accordance with the natural disposition of the tree to form an upright 

 stem, and with the tendency of the sap to develop the uppermost buds 

 of a shortened shoot. But it is not to be done without serious diffi- 

 culties. 



The shoots started for horizontal branches will rarely take that 

 direction; on the contrary, they will generally diverge at an angle 

 of 45. This may, and should be overcome by tying down. The 

 disparity of vigor in the upper, as compared with the lower branches, 

 is a more serious affair. If allowed, the former will soon overgrow 

 the latter, and the pyramid will ultimately become inverted. It is, 

 therefore, evident that, in order to have well-conditioned pyramid 

 pear-trees, means must be adopted to maintain vigor in the lower tiers 

 of branches, and repress over-luxuriance in the upper. 



With the view of invigorating the lower, permit the shoots to grow 

 without restraint till September, and then bend them towards a hori- 

 zontal position. They will thus be much stronger than if they had 

 been made to follow a horizontal direction from the beginning. Shorten 

 them a little at the winter pruning, in order to obtain a stronger 

 leading shoot than would otherwise be produced. Cut to a side bud ; 

 one on the upper side would produce a stronger shoot, but the latter 

 could not be brought down without occasioning an unsightly bend. 

 Besides a leader, some other shoots will probably be produced ; let 

 them grow, for their foliage will assist in forming channels or layers 

 of wood containing channels, for the transmission of sap along these 

 branches in the following season. The growing shoot should have 

 its point elevated till September, as before. No reduction of foliage 

 connected with the lower branches should be made by summer prun- 

 ing. Their leading shoots must not be overshaded. 



In order to prevent excessive luxuriance in the upper branches, 

 recourse must be had to summer pruning as the most efficient means. 

 The shoots should be trained horizontally from their origin, their 

 points depressed instead of elevated. In short, they must be sub- 

 jected to a treatment generally the reverse of that recommended for 

 the lower branches. 



Against walls, the horizontal mode of training answers well for the 

 pear. When the young tree is planted, head down the shoot to a 

 foot, or four courses of bricks, above the level of the ground. Train 

 a shoot upright, and one right, another left, at an angle of 45 ; if 

 these prove unequal in point of vigor, depress the strong and elevate 

 the weak. Lower them both about the middle of September to the 

 horizontal line represented by the joint between the fourth and fifth 

 course of bricks. Their origin on the stem was somewhat below this 

 line, and therefore they must ascend a little to reach it. This, as 



