194 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



and shape as have apples of the same age. The pruning 

 at planting time is done in the same way as for apples. 

 Start the head low and if the trees make a very strong 

 growth during the first summer cut back some of the limbs 

 that are the strongest, cutting to an outer bud always, so 

 as to open out the head. The fruiting habit of the pear 

 is quite the same as with apples and just here precau- 

 tion needs to be taken in selecting the fruiting wood. The 

 pear is very subject to attacks of the destructive bacillus 

 causing "fire blight" and as this disease enters the trees 

 most readily through the blossoms great precautions are 

 needed to keep the fruit spurs clipped off the main 

 branches. 



These spurs will begin to form at from three to five 

 years in most varieties of pears. During the first four 

 or five years prune hard so as to encourage wood growth, 

 but after the fifth year in the Central and Western states, 

 and the seventh and eighth year in the East, where pears 

 do not come into bearing so early, all of the winter prun- 

 ing should be reduced or stopped, and more summer prun- 

 ing done. This is necessary for the purpose of making the 

 pear tree produce a hard wood which is resistant to fire 

 blight. The best time to do this summer pruning is in 

 August in the middle and northern sections of the country 

 and later in the South, where late growth is made. By 

 pruning late in the summer the trees will have made a 

 good amount of wood, but the shock of pruning will take 

 some weeks to overcome, and by that time the climatic 

 conditions are such as normally stop wood formation 

 in the tree. If the summer pruning is done too early the 

 trees may be able to start into growth a second time and 

 continue growing so late as to go into the winter with 

 soft wood that is easily injured by the cold. 



Pruning Brambles 



Brambles are blackberries, raspberries and dewberries, 

 and these constitute a group of plants that produce their 

 fruit on the wood that grew the preceding year, and which 



