PYRAMIDAL PEAR TREES, 3 



about ten years old, and had been root-pruned three 

 times. Nothing could be more interesting than this 

 tree, only six feet high, laden with fruit of extraordi- 

 nary beauty ; for in my soil, pears on quince stocks 

 produce fruit of much greater beauty and of finer fla- 

 vor than those on pear stocks. I have, however, 

 introduced the figure as much to show its imperfec- 

 tion as its beauty : it will be observed that its lower 

 tiers of branches are not sufficiently developed ; this 

 was owing to neglect when the tree was young the 

 upper branches were suffered to grow too luxuriantly. 

 Summer pinching in the youth of the tree is the only 

 remedy for this defect, if it be not well furnished be- 

 low ; and a severe remedy it is, for all the young shoots 

 on the upper tiers, including the leader, must be 

 pinched closely in May and June, till the lower ones 

 have made young shoots of a sufficient length to give 

 uniformity to the tree. This requires much attention. 

 The quenouille, or tying-down system, is not prac- 

 ticed in France at the present day ; and, in. truth, it 

 does look very barbarous and unnatural. The trees 

 trained in this manner in the Potagerie at Versailles 

 are mostly on quince stocks ; they are from twenty to 

 forty years old, and are very productive, but very 

 ugly ; all the shoots from the horizontal and depressed 

 branches are cropped off apparently in July, as M. 

 Puteau, the director, is, I believe, adverse to the 

 pinching system of M. Cappe. I have not for many 

 years observed a single quenouille in Belgium : all are 

 pyramids, even in the gardens of the cottagers, and in 

 general they are very beautiful and productive trees. 

 In many cases, when on the pear-stock, they are too 



