256 THE CULTIVATION OF THE 



attention, as they grow their limbs in a straggling way. 

 After the primary training of standards, we only 

 keep the middles clear to let in the sun, and retrench if 

 the trees bear too much wood, or trim again, as they say, 

 for fruit. Trim pears in the spring or late winter for 

 wood. If for fruit, prune in the summer. Above all 

 things don't be too active in cutting your Standard Pear 

 Trees, at any season. The wounds made by pruning had 

 best be painted over by Copal Varnish, or common lead 

 paint, or covered by grafting wax, especially if such 

 wounds are extensive. 1 believe the usual custom on 

 the peninsula is to trust them to nature, and I have not 

 often seen bad results. 



PRUNING DWARF TREES. 



When you set out a Dwarf Pear Tree, if in the Fall, 

 let it remain until the coming spring, and then cut off 

 the top (if it is a one year old tree) to within from 

 eighteen inches to three feet from the ground, depending 

 on the size of the tree. Cut off lateral branches if any. 

 For a two year old, cut by the rules given for Standard. 

 As the Dwarf grows rapidly and receives high culture, it 

 makes wood rapidly, and often it is well to cut back the 

 new wood of the year one-third to one-half, before 

 growth starts in the spring, and thus improve both the 

 tree and the fruit. Do this until the trees are four years 

 old. Dwarf trees, as a rule, start off better than Stan- 



