P Y R 



P Y R 



and Winter and Summer BonchrCticiis, it should 

 be at least twelve yards distant t'roni each other, 

 supposing the walls to be troui twelve to sixteen 

 leet high ; but when they are only ten feet, fif- 

 teen yards will be little enough for the pur- 

 pose." 



V. here they are planted on south walls, vines, 

 peaehes, nectarines, or apricots, may be plant- 

 ed between them, till the trees extend so far as 

 nearly to meet each other : then they may be 

 removed to any other situation in the garden 

 where they are wanted. And where the pears 

 are planted on west walls, the same sort of trees 

 may be planted between them as on south walls ; 

 tlie fruit on a west aspect will, he says, come 

 into use to succeed that on the south. On an 

 last wall ditferent sorts of plums and cherries 

 may be planted, he says, between the pear-trees 

 till they almost meet, then transplanted as stand- 

 ards or wall-trees. 



He advises that the borders for pear-trees in 

 a large garden should not be less than from ten 

 to twenty feet wide, with a foot-path about 

 three feet from the wall, covered over at top with 

 coal-ashes or road-sand, to make a dry walk for 

 getting at the trees to cut and nail them, to ga- 

 ther the fruit, &:e. And that the dejith of the 

 mould for them should never be less than three 

 I'eet, laying the best mould at top, to encourage 

 the roots to come as near the surface as possible. 

 If the bottom be clay, it will, he says, be very ne- 

 cessary, once in every five or six years, to open 

 the ground round the roots of the trees, and cut 

 off all the large ones that arc inclining to run 

 into the clay; as by this practice the trees will 

 throw out fresh roots that will run near the sur- 

 face, provided the mould is good near the top of 

 the borders. 



He suggests that a crop of early peas, lettuces, 

 spinach, or any other small crops, may be grown 

 on the borders, during the winter and spring ; 

 but no late crops by any means. If the ground 

 can be spared, he would advise to have no sum- 

 mer crops, but keep the borders hoed, in particu- 

 lar after rain ; otherwise the ground, if a strong 

 loamy or clayey soil, will be apt to crack in dry 

 weather ; but by frequent stirring between wet 

 and dry this will in a great measure be prevent- 

 ed, and the sun's rays admitted into the mould, 

 which will greatly heighten the flavour of the 

 fruit. When you can conveniently spare the 

 borders in winter, they should be ridged up to 

 swee»tcn the mould, which may be very well done 

 if you sow early peas on the sides of the ridges ; 

 which is by far the best way to preserve the peas 

 from the frost, and to prevent them from rotting, 

 which will Sometimes happen, if (.he land be 

 strong, before they begin to vegetate : or, you 



you may sow an early crop of carrots or spinach 

 on these borders. 



In regard to the general management in the 

 training and pruning of these trees, if the young 

 wall and espalier trees thus planted are only one 

 year old from the graft or bud, havmg their 

 first shoots of a \ear-old entire, these should in 

 the spring be headed down to five or six inches, 

 to force out lower horizontal branches ; but it" 

 they have been y)reviously headed, as advised 

 above, and have thrown out laterals to form a 

 regular set of horizontal branches, consisting of 

 six or more near the bottoiri, they should not 

 now be shortened, but trained to the wall or es- 

 palier at full length horizontally, preserving an 

 equal number on each side five or six inches 

 asunder : thcv will readily emit a further supply 

 of horizontal shoots lo cover the wall, &c. regu- 

 larly upward, and at the same time not being 

 shortened, they gradually form themselves for 

 bearing, as everv shortening of the branches of 

 these trees retards their bearing a year at least : 

 if, however, there is a want of branches, some 

 of the middlemost may be pruned short, and 

 trained to the wall or espalier. According as 

 the trees shoot in summer, a further supply of 

 all the regular shoots in everv part \\ here they oc- 

 cur, should be trained in at lull length, unless it 

 shall seem necessary to prune some strong shoots 

 to obtain a greater supplv of horizontal branches 

 the same year, in order to furnish the head as 

 soon as possible : at this time, however, displace 

 all the fore-right and other irregular growths oS 

 the year, continuing the supply of regular shoots 

 close to the wall, as they advance in length du- 

 ring their sununer's growth. And in the winter 

 pruning, the sup])ly of shoots attained in sum- 

 mer should be well examined, selecting all those 

 that are well placed and properly situated for 

 training in, to increase the number of horizontal 

 branches on each side, which should be left 

 wholly entire, and at the same time retrenching 

 anv superfluities and ill-placed shoots omitted hv 

 sunmier ; then the whole suppl)' of regular ho- 

 rizontal branches in every part should be trained 

 in straitfht and close to the wall or espalier, 

 equally on both sides of the tree, every branch 

 at the full length, at four, five, or si.\ inches 

 a])art. See Wall- and Espalier-Tuees, and 



PlUiNING. 



There is another method sometimes practised 

 in training these trees for walls and espaliers, 

 which is, that after tb.eir first heading down and 

 having thrown out several laterals, to select three 

 of the strongest and most regularly placed, one 

 on each side and one in the iriiddle, nailing the 

 two side ones horizontally at full length, and the 

 middle cne upright 5 the tree having produced a. 



