BUSH PEAR TREES FOR A MARKET GARDEN. 55 



with all, and througli all the rows however long ; at 

 this distance they may remain for fourteen, eighteen, 

 or twenty years. At the end of one of these periods, 

 every alternate row of trees must be removed, leav- 

 ing the permanent trees six feet apart : the periods of 

 removal must, to a certain extent, depend upon the 

 nature of the soil ; if this be of high fertility, the re- 

 moval of the trees must be commenced at the earlier 

 period. It may sound strangely to the routine gar- 

 dener to advise the removal of fruit trees when twenty 

 years old ; but I say this advisedly, for the trees in a 

 plantation of Louise Bonne pears on the quince stock, 

 planted here twenty years since, in rows five feet 

 apart, were recently removed and have succeeded well, 

 commencing to bear fine crops the second season after 

 being transplanted. When pyramidal trees from ten to 

 twenty years old are removed, their branches should 

 all be shortened to at least one-half their length. 

 Although these trees were planted only five feet apart 

 and have grown well, they did not — and those left un- 

 removed do not — touch each other ; this is, of course, 

 owing to their young shoots having been pinched in 

 every summer for so many seasons. 



From closely observing these trees for many years, 

 and even to-day (July 20th, 1864), upon measuring 

 the shoots of the unremoved trees, and finding they do 

 not meet by at least fifteen inches, I have based the 

 idea conveyed by the heading of these paragraphs, 

 p. 54. It may be asked, why not plant pyramids, 

 which are handsome and productive? Experience 

 furnishes me with a reply : "When my 2,000 pyramids 

 of Louise Bonne pears commenced to bear their large 



