PRUNING THE PEAR. 



25 



natural tendency to descend deep into the ground, and 

 to feed freely upon the moisture below ; and, as a 

 matter of course, there is always more of this below 

 than nearer the surface of the ground, i.e. the deeper 

 we go, the more moisture abounds. The Pear is fond of 

 this, and will descend for it, and if the soil is naturally 

 good below, and abounding in moisture, it will grow too 

 rampant after a little while from the first planting ; 

 this is why the Pear gets unfruitful in the form of 

 trained trees sooner than any other class of fruit 

 tree. On the right hand of Fig. 21 may be seen the 

 annual growth ot a reclaimed Pear that has been well 

 root -pruned or lifted, a a a, laterals from the spur, 

 which, if nipped back three or four times during the 

 summer, will not require cutting back as seen on the 

 left hand of the tree, b b, and will, moreover, produce 

 an abundance of fruit 

 spurs, ccc, Fig. 22. But 

 if not nipped back dur- 

 ing the summer growth 

 something like the Fig. 

 28 spur will be produced, 

 i.e. if the tree has been 

 root-pruned or lifted, 



but if not these spurs will become fruitless, like Fig. 15, 

 letter a. In this case there are no fruit buds. These 

 are easily distinguished the one from the other. The 

 wood buds are more 

 pointed than the fruit 

 buds, and less pro- 

 minent. 



It is of no use to 

 allow a Pear - tree, 

 above all others, to 

 grow all the summer, 

 and then to prune all Fig. 23. 



the young stuff off, 



and so continue to do from year to year. The fact is, 

 the wood buds draw so heavily upon any promising 

 fruit buds that they cannot form where thoy other- 



c 



Pier. 22. 



