1 80 PEARS. 



syth has been successful in renovating old trees when 

 in such an advanced state of decay, that very little, 

 except the bark, remained. He always applies the 

 composition to the wounds, and when, on examination, 

 the root is found to be decayed and rotten, he cuts a- 

 way all the dead part, to the sound wood, and covers 

 the wound. If the above directions be followed, he 

 says, you will get more pears in three or four years, 

 than you can in twenty-five years by planting young 

 trees, and pruning and managing them in the common 

 way. If it be desired to change the kind of fruit, it 

 will be easy to graft or bud upon the young shoots. 



The method recommended by Mr. Knight, for re- 

 claiming old unproductive pear trees is, to cut away 

 all the central branches, retaining those only that are 

 nearly horizontal, and all the spurs of these must be 

 taken off closely with the saw and chisel. Into the ex- 

 tremities of the branches thus retained, grafts are to 

 be inserted at proper distances, so aj to form a new 

 crown. It was on an old Saint Germain pear tree, 

 that had been trained to the wall in a fan form, that 

 he adopted this mode. As soon in the succeeding 

 summer, as the young shoots had attained sufficient 

 length, they were trained almost perpendicularly down' 

 wards between the larger branches and the wall, to which 

 they were nailed. In the second year, and subse- 

 quently, the tree yielded abundant crops, the fruit be- 

 ing equally dispersed over every part. Grafts of no 

 fewer than eight different kinds of pears had been in- 

 serted, and all afforded fruit, and nearly in equal plen- 

 ty. The same mode is applicable to common stand- 

 ard trees. By this mode, Mr. K. remarks, the bearing 

 branches, being small and short, may be changed ev- 

 ery three or four years, till the tree be a century old, 

 without the loss of a single crop, and the central part, 

 which is almost necessarily unproductive in the fan 

 mode of training, and is apt to become so in the hor- 



