260 Management of the finer Sorts of French Pears. 



the three top buds are to be trained, one on each side, per- 

 fectly horizontal, and the middle one upright : should the 

 centre this season grow vigorously and advance two feet before 

 the end of June, top it at that height with the thumb and 

 finger. Three shoots may probably start from the three upper 

 eyes ; if so, nail them in an easy position, and bring them to 

 their proper places in the winter pruning ; but most probably 

 only two will break. In this case, as soon as they are six inches 

 long, train them both on the opposite side from which you 

 want a third shoot, and rather lower than the horizontal line : 

 this will cause the next bud below the two shoots already ob- 

 tained to start. As soon as this advances a few inches, restore 

 the shoot from the top bud to an erect position, and the other 

 about half way between the horizontal and perpendicular 

 line ; observing if one of the side shoots gets the advantage of 

 the other to depress the strong or elevate the weak as occa- 

 sion may require, by which means both will be kept of equal 

 length. If by the autumn the centre shoot has not advanced 

 two feet, or if it does not appear to have ripened, cut the three 

 summer shoots off within half an inch of the place from whence 

 they sprang ; there will then be an upright centre two feet 

 above the second pair of horizontal branches, which will not 

 fail to push vigorously the next spring ; and although in this 

 case only one pair of branches will be produced this season, 

 the tree will be much benefitted from having the upright 

 shoot topped, as the sap by this check will be forced into the 

 horizontal branches below, which are often starved by the pro- 

 digious and in a great measure useless growth of the centre : all 

 superfluous shoots are to be pinched off within an inch or two 

 as they appear, and, as far as may be, (without leaving the 

 branch absolutely bare,) entirely cutout in the winter pruning. 

 This treatment is to be repeated till those trees which have 

 their first pair of horizontal branches within nine inches of the 

 ground arrive within two feet or eighteen inches of the top of 

 the wall : these trees are to be considered permanent : those 

 which have no branch, till they are one foot nine inches high, 

 are for a temporary purpose only, and they may have a pair 

 of branches within four inches of the top of the wall. In ten 

 years, we will suppose on a twelve-feet wall, most of the 

 branches will reach twelve or thirteen feet from the stem. The 

 wall will, therefore, present somewhat the appearance of the 

 following figure, (fig. 69.) 



Hitherto it is obvious, that as we have doubled the number 

 of trees, and each tree has produced as many, or, perhaps, 

 more branches capable of bearing fruit, and those owing to 



