Gardening for Amateurs 



1007 



only methods of increase now adopted. 

 Grafting is carried out at the end of March 

 and early in April, and budding from the 

 middle of July to the middle of August. 



Pyramid and Horizontal Espaliers. Left 

 to itself, the Pear tree naturally assumes 

 pyramid shape, therefore it may be termed 

 the best method of training for the garden. 



The Pear tree being of free growth is well 

 adapted to the method of training known as 

 horizontal espalier. The distance between 

 the horizontal branches should be about 

 12 inches. The successive tiers of branches 

 are obtained by pruning the leading upright 

 shoot of the previous year's growth to within 

 12 or 15 inches of its base in winter. Re- 

 move all the buds on the lowest 10 inches 

 of the upright shoot, leaving three buds at 

 the top of the shoot, after growth has started. 

 These three buds will form the leading shoot 

 and the two side branches during the coming 

 summer, one on either side. The same 

 process is followed each year until there are 

 sufficient branches to fill the allotted space. 

 This form of training is best adapted for 

 trees on walls and espaliers. 



Fan Trained. This is the commonest 

 method of training the Pear when grown 

 against a wall or trellis, and probably on 

 the whole is the most satisfactory. A fan- 

 trained tree consists of main branches 

 springing from the lower part of the stem 

 of the tree and radiating obliquely at various 

 degrees from the middle of the tree. They 

 ought to be about 18 inches apart. Out of 

 these main branches side branches grow and 

 fill the space. 



Cordon. The Pear succeeds admirably 

 when grown as a cordon, better even than 

 the Apple. The tree may have one, two or 

 three stems, and is known respectively as a 

 single, double and treble cordon. 



Pruning. Much of what has been written 

 in reference to pruning Apples is equally 

 applicable to Pears, but in the open the 

 latter are usually grown in pyramid form. 

 The pruning of pyramid Pears is shown in 

 Fig. 2. The Pear is also most useful as a 

 horizontal espalier, the pruning of which is 

 shown in Fig. 3. It is necessary to shorten 

 the central or leading growth each season 

 at the requisite distance from the top pair 

 of branches, to secure another pair. A good 



Fig. 1. Old Horizontal Espalier of Pear 

 showing young growths developed by 

 cutting back older branches at j. 



Fig. 2. Pyramid Pear Tree: Prune at e. 



