THE MATURE PYEAMID 13 



all operations. The cultivator has only to look over 

 his trees during June (penknife in hand), and pinch 

 the terminal bud of every shoot on the lateral or side 

 branches ; the buds below the point of pinching will 

 develop into fruit spurs, the shoots which push again 

 from the terminals may, if the growth is not well 

 balanced, be stopped in August, but all pruning should 

 be deferred until the end of September. 



It is possible that in some soils and climates, with 

 a non-ripening power, summer pinching may be carried 

 to an excess. It is difficult to lay down a hard and 

 fast rule. As a matter of fact, in favourable fruit- 

 growing districts — and it is hardly worth while to plant 

 in any otlfer — summer pinching with certain modifica- 

 tions will be found to give good results. The first 

 pinching in June is really the most important, as it 

 provides the fruit buds for the following year in the 

 most convenient part of the tree — i.e. near the stem. 

 If the leading shoot be shortened in September, the 

 supplementary shoots produced by the first pinching 

 may either be pruned or left until October. 



EOOT-PRUNING OF PYRAMIDAL PEAR 

 TREES ON QUINCE STOCKS 



Before entering on the subject of root-pruning of pear 

 trees on quince stocks, I must premise that handsome 

 and fertile pyramids, more particularly of some free- 



