1246 
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 tlie 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 (x1/2). 
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 ti.il, if it -liall 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 - ii i- rendered 
unnecessary by the failure or loss of the bud. see 
Grattage 
7. pruning. - Beyond that described under the head of 
budding, little pruning is required 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 teiminal 
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 
PEAR 
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 f^.t. 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, ii 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 
littl. pruning 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 
i.e. ii 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 ir 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 frint. 
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 
