43 6 



GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



Good Varieties. A list of these will be found in the tables on 

 page 606. 



Thinning the Fruit. If the spring is a favourable one, free from 

 late frosts, more fruits " set " upon a Pear tree than the latter can 

 properly bring to maturity. It is, therefore, necessary to remove some 

 of them so that the remaining ones may reach a satisfactory size and 

 develop a good flavour. The flowers of the Pear are borne in small 

 bunches of six or eight, known as corymbs. All except one or two of 

 these, when set, must be pinched off in thinning ; it may be even 

 necessary to remove some of the bunches altogether. Upon a healthy 



FIG. 31. Pear. Fan-shaped, third year. 



tree in a favourable season the flowers are extremely numerous ; the 

 branches are one mass of white from apex to base, so that to leave 

 even one or two fruits in each corymb would be a mistake. Sharp 

 frosts, when the flowers are open, mean that probably none, or very 

 little, thinning will be required. It is a great mistake to allow a fruit 

 tree to mature a very heavy crop of fruit, for the following year at 

 least it will be almost barren. A far better practice is to leave a 

 moderate quantity of fruit each year, so that the tree may not have to 

 expend the whole of its energy in developing and maturing the former 

 at the expense of forming wood and nourishing its buds for another 

 season. 



Gathering the Fruit. The simplest way to learn when a Pear is 

 in condition for gathering is to raise it gently until the fruit is almost 



