P Y R 



P Y R 



border with the above, two of which were St. 

 Gennaiiis; the old tree was of the same kind. 

 One of these trees, twenty years old, had five 

 hundred p.ars on it, which was a great crop for 

 its siiie : so that there were on the old tree, which 

 had been headed down not quite four years, two 

 thousand three hundred and forty pears more 

 than on the tree of twenty years growth. When 

 the men numbered the pears, there was. he says, 

 near a barrowful of wind-falls at the bottom of 

 the old tree, \\hieh were not included. 



1 hese and other statements are given in his 

 usehd Treatise on the Culture of Fruit-Trees. 



The follov.ing is the method which he pur- 

 sues in training trees that are cut near to the 

 place where they were grafted : — 



" In the month of March, every year, he 

 shortens the leading shoot to a foot or eighteen 

 inches, according to its strength : this shoot 

 will, he says, if the tree be strong, grow from 

 five to seven feet long in one season ; and, if 

 left to nature^ would run up without throwing 

 out side-shoots. The reason for thus shorten- 

 ing the leading shoot is, he says, to make it 

 thiow out side-shoots ; and if it be done close to 

 a bud, it will frequently cover the cut in one 

 season, leaving only a cicatrix. When the 

 shoots are very stronsr, he cuts the leading ones 

 twice in one season) by this method he gets two 

 sets of sid«-shoots in one year, which enable 

 him the sooner to cover the wall. The first 

 cutting is performed any time during the spring, 

 and the second about the middle of June. 

 When you prune the trees, and cut the fore- 

 right shrots, which should be done in February 

 or March, always cut close to an eye or bud, 

 observing where you see the greatest number of 

 leaves at the lower bud^ and cut at them; for at 

 the footstalk of every one of these will be pro- 

 duced a flower-bud. The same will hold good 

 in cutting the superfluous shoots on standard 

 pears." He adds, that " you will have in some 

 sorts of pears, in a favourable season, from five 

 to nine pears in a cluster. This cutting should 

 not be later than March, or the beginning of 

 April, on account of the leading shoot begin- 

 ning to grow : the next topping, when the lead- 

 ing shoot grows quick enougli to admit of it, 

 should be about the middle of June ; and the 

 length of the shoots should be according to their 

 strength, having from three eyes, or buds, to 

 fix on a side." 



It is added that " the cankery part beginning 

 to afllct the new bark, he cut ofl'all the canker at 

 the bottom, and plastered the place with some 

 cov, -dung, mixed with wood-ashes and powder 

 of burnt bones, put into as much urine and 

 soapsuds as would make it of the consistence of 



thick paint; this he laid on with a painter's 

 brush. After it had been applied about three 

 hours, he patted it gently down, with his hand, 

 close to the tree. Jiv so doing, he gets rid, he 

 says, of all the air-bubbles that may be under 

 the Composition, and makes it adhere to the 

 tree, preventing it from being washed ofTby hea- 

 vy rains. And in the beginning of August he 

 shortens the foreright shoots to about four inches 

 Ions: ; by this time the shoot will have made its 

 full growth for the season, and will produce fine 

 stronti eyes for the following year. Such shoots 

 as grow near the stem of the tree, if any are 

 wanted to fill up the wall, may, he says, be 

 tucked-in as directed for peaches. This will 

 prevent them from looking unsightly, and save 

 them from the fury of the autumnal and winter 

 winds." 



Ilf further advises, that " whenever the trunk 

 is hollow, it be followed under ground till 

 you have cut out all the decayed parts and rotten 

 roots, otherwise you will lose the tree. By pro- 

 ceeding according to the foregoing directions, 

 the root will, he says, be renewed, while the 

 tree is forming a fine handsome head. In the 

 mean-time the borders should be trenched, 

 taking up all the old roots, and adding some 

 fresh mould to them, if you can conveniently 

 get it ; if you cannot, remove all the sour mould 

 that is about the roots of the trees, and put in 

 some taken from the border, at a distance from 

 ihe wall ; always remembering to lay the top 

 spit next to the roots of the trees ; also, to mix 

 some vegetable mould, from the melon and cu- 

 cumber beds, with rotten leaves, as a manure 

 for the borders." 



lie has " headed down, he says, many trees 

 that had not this preparation ; and vet they 

 throve very well, but dlil not send forth such 

 fine roots and shoots as those that were so pre- 

 pared." 



He concludes by observing, that " if the 

 above directions be followed, more pears w ill be 

 procured in three or four vears than can be done 

 in twenty-five vcars by planting young trees, 

 and pruning and managing them in the com- 

 mon way. It is added, that if it should b'. 

 found, that, before the pears arrive at half their 

 natural size, thev get stLinted, after cold blight- 

 ing winds, and frosty nights, he would recom- 

 mend a new operation to be performed when 

 the weather betjins to grow mild, which is to 

 take a sharp penknife, and with the point of it 

 make an incision through the rind of the pear 

 from the footstalk to the eye, in the same way 

 as in scarifying a bark-bound tree, taking care 

 to penetrate as little into the ilesli of the pear as 

 possible. At the same time beat up some fresh 



