132 FRUIT CULTURE. 



a quantity of front or breast growth will be forced. 

 When these growths are about twelve to fifteen inches 

 long, it is a good plan to go over them and just pinch 

 the tips off the strongest of them, leaving the weaker 

 ones. This will check the growth before the final 

 pruning takes place. This should be done some time in 

 August, and should consist of cutting back all shoots 

 not required to be nailed in, to within three eyes or 

 so of the base of the growth. The trees will then 

 have a neat appearance for the remainder of the season, 

 and no harm will result, as is the case if pruned earlier. 

 The growth that will subsequently be made will be very 

 slight, so that the leading growths and the fruit will be 

 able to absorb the flow of sap, and no secondary front 

 growth will be forced. As the tree advances in age it 

 will, in all probability, become over-crowded with unfruit- 

 ful spurs ; these should be cut clean away, to allow more 

 room for the fruitful ones, and it should be done at the 

 time of the winter pruning, when the leaf is off. 



Root-pruning may be necessary in some cases where the 

 tree may be making too much growth without producing 

 fruit. The best time to do this is November. Dig a 

 trench two to four feet away from the stem, and cut the 

 coarse or wood-producing roots, taking great care not to 

 injure the small and fibrous roots near the surface. Cut 

 under the tree and sever the tap-root, if any. 



If the tree is large it will be best to root-prune only 

 half the number of roots one season and the other half 

 the next, as the check is too great if all are cut at once. 

 Trim the ends of the severed roots with a knife, and add 

 some fresh soil at the time of the operation, to encourage 

 new rootlets to form quickly. 



Horizontal Pears. This form of training is frequently 



