Pruning the Pear. 253 
Distance in Planting.—-If the pears are to have the whole 
ground, it is usual to plant from twenty to twenty-four feet apart 
on the square. As the tree is slower to attain size and full bear- 
ing than the stone fruits, and as it is a long-lived tree, the pears 
ale sometimes set twenty-four feet with plums in quincunx. 
Peaches and apricots are also set between pears sometimes, 
when the soil chosen for pears suits them also. 
PRUNING. 
Usually the pear is grown in the vase form, as described in 
the general chapter on pruning. With regular, upright grow- 
ers, heading low and cutting to outside buds results in a hand- 
some, gently-spreading top, and effectually curbs the disposition 
which some varieties, notably the Bartlett, have to run straight 
up with main branches crowded together. The accompanying 
engravings show how a vase-form tree is developed from an up- 
Bartlett Pear after First, Second and Third Winter Pruning. 
right grower like the Bartlett, from an unbranched yearling cut 
back to about eighteen inches. A longer stem and more widely- 
spaced branches would be better, but the pear stands crowded 
branches better than other trees because of the strength of the 
wood. The engravings do not show relative sizes of the trees 
but merely the method of branching. 
