208 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



branches, and the leaves. The bark is for the convey- 

 ance of the sap, or blood of the tree, up in the spring 

 and down in the fall. The .«iap descends from the leaves 

 through the inner bark and deposits its layers of wood 

 and bark annually. The body-wood is composed of the 

 sap-wood and the old wood ; and the branches are the 

 main or leading branches ; then descending in size to 

 the shoots or growing part of the limbs ; and last, the 

 fruit-spurs. Now again there are the buds of the leaves 

 and the buds of the blossoms or fruit-buds. The leaf- 

 buds grow into branches of the tree. On the pear the 

 leaf-buds grow on the new wood of the year, and the 

 fruit-buds come on the wood of the last year, and 

 grow on the end of spurs called fruit-spurs, growing out 

 from this last year's wood. Now, all this is important as 

 will be seen when we come to speak of fertilizing Pear 

 trees. In young trees growing rapidly, all buds are leaf- 

 buds ; as they grow old, growth is slower, and many leaf- 

 buds become fruit-buds ; and hence, the tree becomes 

 fruitful, and so, by encouraging growth in Pear trees, in 

 fact, in most fruit trees, we discourage fruiting, and by 

 checking growth of wood we encourage fruiting ; but if 

 this be done too much, the tree and its product both will 

 suffer in the end. Now this does not hold true as to vigor- 

 ous growing Pear trees coming into bearitig late, for some 

 of the most vigorous growers, as the Bartlett, Le Conte 

 and Kiefifer, come into bearing very early, and some 



