1246 



PEAR 



PEAR 



year's growth from the bud; while trees intended to be 

 grown two or more years in the nursery row, and prop- 

 erly branched, should be given twice or even three 

 times the space mentioned. 



The budding of Pear stocks may be done during July 

 and August if they continue in a growing condition, but 

 they are liable to be attacked by mildew of the foli- 

 age, for which reason they must be closely watched, 



1687. Seckel, the standard of quality (X%). 



and should the malady prove troublesome the budding 

 must be done as soon as properly matured buds can be 

 obtained. Such stocks as, for any cause, were left un- 

 budded at budding time, together with any in which 

 buds shall have failed, may be grafted the following 

 spring; but this, as well as any and all grafting of the 

 Pear, must be done very early, before the earliest move- 

 ment of the sap in spring. In the spring, as soon as the 

 swelling of the buds indicates that the germs are alive, 

 the stocks are cut back to force them into growth. Often 

 to insure the formation of straight, upright, symmetrical 

 trees, careful nurserymen leave 3 or 4 inches of the 

 stock above the insertion of the bud, to which the young 

 shoot may be tied, if it shall fail otherwise to take an 

 upright direction. Shoots may also be thus tied to pre- 

 vent their being blown out, or otherwise injured by the 

 wind. These stubs should be cut back to the bud when 

 no longer needed for the purposes indicated. Such 

 sprouts as spring from the stock in consequence of the 

 cutting back must be removed from time to time to 

 encourage the growth of the bud. This should be done 

 while they are yet tender and succulent and can, there- 

 fore, be taken off without the use of a knife. This process 

 must be repeated as they reappear, unless it is rendered 

 unnecessary by the failure or loss of the bud. See 

 Graftage. 



1 . Pruning. Beyond that described under the head of 

 budding, little pruning is reqiiired during the first sea- 

 son, except to pinch in such side shoots as threaten to 

 rob the one intended to become the trunk of the future 

 tree. Early in the spring of the second year, all lateral 

 shoots must be wholly cut away, and since the Pear 

 tends strongly to renew its growth from the terminal 

 buds of the previous year, the shoot intended to become 

 the trunk of the future tree must be cut down to the 

 point at which the top is to commence, when the branches 

 to form the head will start from the buds nearest the 

 top. The uppermost shoot must, if needful, be confined 

 in an upright position to constitute the continuation of 

 the trunk. 



The habits of growth of varieties differ so widely 

 that no inflexible rule can be laid down to determine 



the height at which the top of a Pear tree should be 

 commenced, unless it be that the heads of the more 

 spreading varieties should be started higher than those 

 of a more upright habit. The preferences of the ma- 

 jority of purchasers have begotten among nurserymen 

 the practice of forming the heads of all varieties at a 

 height of 3 or 4 feet. This height is open to the objec- 

 tion that, while not seriously faulty in the case of such 

 spreading varieties as Onondaga, Osband Summer, or 

 Flemish Beauty, it is essentially unsuited to such very 

 upright growers as Buffum, Sterling, Clapp Favorite, 

 and even Anjou. In this particular, as in various others, 

 the practice of nurserymen, begotten by the preferences 

 of the average of their customers, fails to adapt itself 

 to the needs of the more intelligent and considerate 

 orchardist, and to those of even smaller planters, who 

 regard the health and productiveness of their trees as 

 of higher importance than the possibly increased con- 

 venience of cultivation. 



A proper system of primary branches, upon which to 

 grow a permanent head, should be provided from the 

 growth of the second season. Probably the most satis- 

 factory provision for this purpose consists of a central 

 shoot, with from 3 to 5 laterals diverging from the trunk 

 at its base. A head should, in no case, be grown upon 

 two shoots, forming a crotch, since this will be very 

 liable to split and thus ruin the tree. A few varieties, 

 of which Rostiezer is a notable example, have the habit 

 of producing but few branches, and also of making 

 successive annual growths, mainly from the terminal 

 buds* of the previous year, thus forming a too open or 

 straggling head. Such tendency is best overcome by 

 cutting back the branches in spring, the effect being to 

 increase their number, though at the expense of vigor. 



After the primary branches have been developed, and 

 the growth of the third year is in progress, compara- 

 tively little pruning will be found necessary beyond the 

 occasional cutting away of a straggling or crossing 

 branch, although there is a class of varieties, of which 

 Summer Doyenne and Winter Nelis are types, which, 

 especially when growing vigorously, incline to twist and 

 straggle so awkwardly that the branches must fre- 

 quently be tied in position to insure the formation of a 

 satisfactory head. 



Prior to the third or fourth year, all pruning must 

 necessarily have for its object the direction and en- 

 couragement of wood growth, for which purpose it is 

 most effective when performed in late winter or early 

 spring, while the trees are yet dormant. 



The fact should not be forgotten that pruning, in pro- 

 portion to its extent or severity, may be a tax upon the 

 vigor and health of the tree, and, therefore, to be prac- 

 ticed as sparingly as possible. Such necessity may be 

 to a considerable extent avoided, if the orchardist, with 

 a well-defined ideal in mind of a tree such as he 

 desires to produce, will, during the growing season, 

 pass frequently through his plantation and pinch out, 

 while yet small and succulent, all growths not needed 

 for his purpose, at the same time "stopping" such of 

 the reserved ones as may be too far outgrowing their 

 fellows. With the efficient performance of this process 

 while the framework of the top is being developed, very 

 little prvining will remain to be done on the arrival of 

 spring, while nearly the entire growth, which would 

 otherwise have been pruned away in spring, will have 

 been employed in developing the reserved branches. 



While the cutting away of an occasional small branch 

 may be done at almost any time, large branches should 

 be removed only in case of actual necessity, and at a 

 period early enough to permit the thorough drying and 

 hardening of the cut surface prior to the movement of 

 the sap in spring, as a means of preventing bleeding 

 and consequent decay. 



Summer pruning tends to check rather than encour- 

 age wood growth, and since it acts to a greater or less 

 extent as an obstruction to the circulation, it also tends, 

 as does the permanent bending of the branches and the 

 hardening of the tissues, to hasten the formation of 

 fruit-buds and the production of fruit. 



The Pear may be successfully grafted upon the white 

 thorn, the mountain ash and the apple, and such grafts 

 have occasionally proved more or less productive for a 

 time, but in such cases the union between stock and 



