Management of ike finer Sorts of French Pears. 26 8 



tion as espaliers, they will nevertheless still be valuable in 

 this case. After they have been removed a twelvemonth, treat 

 them according to Mr. Knight's mode of changing the sort ; 

 that is, leave the horizontals at very nearly the full length, but 

 cut off all the spurs, leaving only bare poles at every twelve, 

 fifteen, or eighteen inches, according to the growth of the sort 

 you intend to introduce. On the upper side, all along the 

 branches, make a notch a little deeper than the bark : it may 

 be done by two cuts with a sharp knife, the side nearest the 

 trunk being perpendicular, the other sloping ; the graft may 

 then be introduced by the common mode of crown-grafting ; 

 train the shoots from the grafts as before directed. In two 

 years and a half most kinds will produce an abundant crop, 

 and the trees will be very nearly as large as those on the wall 

 from whence they were taken ; thus having an advantage over 

 young trees of at least ten years. 



Should this method of treating pear trees be objected to 

 by any one who wishes to have the Colmar, Crassane, and 

 other shy-bearing kinds, in their gardens, they may possibly 

 not dislike the following method, by which they may get as 

 many of the rare sorts of French pears as are usually ob- 

 tained on the same space of wall, with the addition of an equal 

 quantity of those kinds of pears which are produced on free- 

 bearing and moderate-growing trees, and at the same time 

 avoid that most disagreeable sight which a tree bearing fruit 

 only on its extremities always presents. By the common 

 mode of pruning and training, the shy-bearing kinds will in- 

 variably be found without blossom buds for the first six or 

 seven feet from the stem of the tree ; therefore, any one deter- 

 mined on training according to the old horizontal plan should 

 plant those sorts which are known as moderate growers and 

 free bearers, many of which are very good pears. As each 

 pair of horizonal branches arrives at the distance of six or 

 seven feet from the stem of the tree, whip-graft them, with a 

 well-ripened short-jointed shoot taken from the extremity of 

 a full grown Colmar, Crassane, or other shy-bearing sort you 

 may wish to cultivate, taking care to preserve the terminal 

 bud of the graft : the upper branches should not be grafted 

 nearer the stem than the lower, for although at six feet from 

 the stem they may be fourteen or sixteen from the root, they 

 will be found quite as much disposed to throw out strong 

 breast-wood as the branches within two or three feet of the 

 ground, the sap flowing stronger into every pair of branches 

 as it approaches nearer to the top of the wall, the tree con- 

 tinually attempting to gain its natural position, which is nearly 



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