. Don't shorten-in the laterals to two or three buds, 

 leave them. say. six inches in length, and don't keep up this con- 

 stant heading back and shortening-in of laterals. When the tree 

 has got a good sturdy growth, say, in two to four years, depend- 

 ent on the variety, let it rip, cutting out those branches only that 

 interfere with others; it will throw itself into fruit quicker left 

 practically alone, and when once in fruit judicious cutting back 

 and shortening-in of laterals can be recommended. 



THE PEAR. 



1896. The fruit is carried by the pear on the spurs thrown 

 out from the wood of more than one year's growth, and in isolated 

 cases (much less frequent than with the apple) at the terminal 

 buds. No account should be taken of the latter mode of bearing, 

 but one's entire attention devoted to securing the fruit on the 

 spurs. 



On taking over the pear at the second pruning one finds much 

 the same growth to be treated as on the apple, but it will general- 

 ly be forced out in greater profusion, and in the case of upright 

 growers, in a more compact mass. The shortening-in process 

 should be strictly carried out, cutting off from a half to two-thirds 

 of the last season's growth. In the upright growers the shoots 

 should be considerably thinned out. cutting out always the inner 

 ones, to force the growth outward, in order to spread the tree. 

 The course of treatment to be pursued in future years is a con- 

 stant cutting back and thinning out of the long upright growth, 

 and the keeping of the spurs, after fruiting, in a sound and healthy 

 state by an occasional thinning-out and shortening-in. The 

 main object should be to keep the tree open in order to allow 

 the sun to ripen the spurs, and also to give them room to grow 

 and carry their fruit. We may here state that we do not approve 

 of a system practised in some orchards we have seen. In place 

 of shortening-in the head the limbs are bent out and brought into 

 a horizontal position by being fastened to stakes. It is certainly 

 a ready way of encouraging fruiting, but we have frequently 

 noticed that trees so treated are liable in the near future to be 

 severely scalded by the sun, resulting in an entire burning away 

 of the exposed surface, ever afterwards making an unhealthy 

 tree. 



1900. The constant cutting back and thinning out of the 

 top we still consider necessary, but it must be done in moderation. 

 Don't cut back too severely, one-third of last season's growth will 

 be enough, and leave the laterals from 6 inches to 12 inches in 

 height, dependent on their position. 



