THE PEAK. 241 



means described for conducting a pyramid, can succeed 

 fully in training the espaliers or wall pyramid. 



THE PEAK IN WINE-GLASS FORM. 



Captain Wm. K. Austin, of Dorchester, Mass., has very 

 successfully adopted a method of training his dwarf pear- 

 trees, which he calls the " wine-glass pattern." Hovey's 

 Magazine of Horticulture, February, 1865, contained a 

 full account of this method of training by Captain A. 

 himself, and I extract from that the following condensed 

 statement : 



" I take good, thrifty dwarf trees, say two years from 

 the bud ; I set them out in April, eight feet apart, in 

 rows, and the rows twelve or fifteen feet apart. I cut 

 off tlie top, or head it back, cutting out the center leader, 

 if any, and prepare the tree for a low start. The fiist 

 season the growth is usually small, but the 8ec(»nd spring 

 (a year from planting) they are prepared to start vigor- 

 ously, and must be headed back or cut in, and the tree 

 formed this second summer into the form you desire it to 

 take. A certain number of leaders, ten or twelve, may 

 be allowed to grow, the lower ones about eighteen inches 

 from the ground, with a clean stem below that. 



"Nothing but these leaders are allowed to grow — no 

 central leader, but all equally distributed. All side shoots 

 and spray are kept down by nipping or cutting off with 

 very light shears, leaving always three or four leaves at 

 the base of the twig. 



"These leaders, having all the sap, grow fast, and must 

 be topped, when too long, about the 10th of July, or 

 sooner, if necessary, to check and concentrate the ener- 

 gies of the tree, and stock it up. This may have to be 

 repeated more than once, but if topped too early, the 

 tendency is to throw out more side shoots, and increase 

 the labor. After the 10th or middle of July, the growth 

 11 



