THE PEAR. 



163 



because they do not succeed well when they are grafted on the quince. 

 I have seen pears grown on the common thorn, but I have none 

 such in my garden. My quince-rooted pear-trees are grown as 

 pyramids (fig. 300), all cut to one height, nine feet, and taking the 

 general form of a "Jack in the Green," 

 which used to delight the little boys and 

 girls on May-day. 



The rule is to pinch the top shoots in 

 June, when the first shoots appear, and it 

 is a good plan to pinch back the young 

 shoots to about three leaves at the upper half 

 of the tree a few days before the shoots of 

 the lower half of the tree are touched, 

 because the upper shoots have a tendency FIG. 300. pyramid Pear on Quince, 

 to grow much more strongly than those on the lower half. In 

 regulating the general form of the tree, great care is taken that the 

 upper branches do not overshadow the lower branches, as this 

 renders them fruitless. These lower branches should nearly touch the 

 ground, but some years ago I had a gardener who gave himself great 

 trouble to displease me by altogether removing many of the lowest 

 branches of my pear-trees, because in his opinion they were worthless 

 for the production of fruit. 



In winter, when the exuberant shoots of the trees 

 are cut back, care should be taken not to cut off 

 the bearing spurs, which may be known by the size 

 of the fruiting buds, as the shoot buds are much 

 smaller, as will readily be seen by the annexed 

 drawing (fig. 301). In winter, when all the trees are 

 cut to one height and form, they have a neat 



Fin. 301. Pear Branches. 



appearance. 



Wherever I have been on the Continent the 

 pyramid on the quince stock has been observed to 

 be the favourite form of tree for dessert pears, and the kinds which 

 I have observed in France and Italy are mostly of the sorts which 



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