CULTIVATION OF FRUIT 433 



are developing, as this is beneficial. By mulching and maintaining a 

 loose surface much may be done to lessen the labour of watering. 



Pear Trees on Walls. The usual forms of Pear trees trained 

 against walls are the horizontal, the fan-shaped, and the upright or 

 oblique single, double, or triple cordons. If the wall is high, a fan- 

 trained tree would cover it more quickly than a horizontally-trained 

 one. This method is not, however, so extensively practised as formerly. 

 Horizontal-trained trees are preferred, and, during development, so that 

 the space between them shall not be wasted, the wall is planted with 

 cordons. Horizontal-trained trees, grafted on the Quince stock, 

 should be planted about 15 feet apart, and the stem kept at least 8 

 inches from the wall so as to allow plenty of room for future growth. 

 The formation of a tree of this description, which is not at all difficult, 

 is carried out in the following way : Suppose that after having been 

 grafted, one season's growth has taken place. In the winter cut down 

 the shoot to three buds; two of the latter should be about 12 inches 

 above ground, for the shoots from them will eventually form the primary 

 horizontal branches. The shoot from the third bud is trained upwards 

 to form the leader. Allow the shoots from the two side-buds to grow 

 in an oblique direction until well on in summer, and bring them down 

 to a horizontal position later. They naturally grow more vigorously in 

 the former position. Next winter the upright leader is pruned to three 

 buds, exactly as the maiden shoot the previous season. The two 

 side-buds should again be about 12 inches above the primary hori- 

 zontal branches. Thus from these buds two more horizontal shoots 

 will again develop, and from the third one, an upright shoot for the 

 leader will be formed. This practice is repeated until the tree has 

 attained the desired height. In order to strengthen the horizontal 

 branches, the growth made every summer should be slightly shortened 

 the following winter. Laterals will develop from them, and until the 

 tree has become established, say for two seasons, they may be allowed 

 to grow freely during the summer, so as to render the branches as 

 vigorous as possible. Allow each branch to grow in a slanting direc- 

 tion during summer, and bring them down at right angles to the stem in 

 the autumn. When the tree is well established, instead of allowing the 

 laterals to fully develop, pinch them back to five or six leaves in summer, 

 and in winter prune them to three buds, so as to induce the formation 

 of artificial fruit spurs, if there is room for them ; if not, cut out the 

 shoots altogether. 



Fan-trained Trees. The formation of a fan-trained tree is equally 

 simple : Cut the maiden shoot down to three buds, exactly as advised 

 for a horizontally-trained tree. The resulting growths from the two side- 

 buds may be treated as in the last-mentioned form, for they will con- 

 stitute the two lowest branches. The leading shoot, however, must be 

 cut back to three good buds somewhere near to its base. After shoots 

 have grown from these the following summer, in winter each one is 

 also pruned back in the same manner. Thus, at the end of the third 

 season there would be nine branches in all. In the winter, after their 



2 E 



