1060 



PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



PEAK 



more apart, and need rarely exceed this 

 height when grown on the Quince stock, 

 which has a dwarfing influence. Pyramid 

 trees grow taller, and require a little more 

 space between. Espaliers are valuable as 

 fences and edgings to flower borders, and 

 by the pathways in the kitchen garden. 

 All the branches are well exposed to the 

 sun, and gathering the fruit and cleansing 

 are easily performed. 



Soil. — Pear trees will flourish in a rich 

 loamy soil, rather stronger and redder 

 than that for Apples, but requiring to be 

 equally well drained, so as to prevent 

 the accumulation of stagnant water at 

 the roots. Anything approaching a stiff 

 heavy clay should be avoided, until by 

 thorough cultivation by digging or trench- 

 ing, manuring and draining, it has been 

 brought into a fairly good state. In the 

 case of sandy, shallow soils which have 

 not the power of retaining sufficient 

 inoisture for the roots, it is a mistake to 

 plant Pear trees grafted on the Quince 

 stock. The latter is a shallow rooting 

 plant naturally, and is therefore more 

 suitable for rich and rather heavy soils, 

 into the lower depths of which it vvill not 

 penetrate. The Pear stock on the other 

 hand has an inclination to send its roots 

 deeper into the soil, and trees grafted 

 upon it are best for light dry soils, as they 

 are not so likely to suffer from the effects 

 of dry seasons, owing to the fact that their 

 roots seek moisture at lower depths than 

 those of the Quince. 



Protection. — In the north of Scotland 

 and other bleak parts of the British 

 Islands, it is almost essential to grow 

 Pear trees — especially late varieties — upon 

 walls for protection from spring frosts, if 

 anything like a good and regular crop of 

 fruit is annually required. The measures 

 recommended for protecting Apples at 

 p. 1043 are equally appUoable to Pears. It 

 is scarcely worth while planting early 

 varieties of Pears against walls, those 

 which ripen later and reqiiire some as- 

 sistance from a good aspect and shelter 

 being more suited for the purpose. 



Thinning.^ Very often a tree bears a 

 remarkable crop one year, but very few 

 or no fruits at all the following year or 

 two. This is owing chiefly to the fact 

 that in favourable seasons, especially 

 when the plants are on the Quince stock, 

 the large quantity of fruit developed 

 absorbs a good deal of the sap reipired to 

 form new fruiting branches for the follow- 



ing years. If these fruiting branches or 

 spurs are not duly developed, the tree 

 becomes unfruitful until sufficient force 

 has been gained to produce them again. 

 It is therefore advisable in the interests of 

 the tree itself, and also for the regularity 

 of the crops, that a judicious thinning of 

 the fruit should take place in the same 

 way as recommended for Apples (see 

 p. 1044). 



Pruning. — The Pear tree will stand 

 a more severe pruning than the Apple. 

 Judiciously practised, pruning is very 

 beneficial, and chiefly by its means do 

 the trees bear large and luscious finiits. 

 Severe pruning is to be condemned, and 

 the more it is practised on vigorous 

 varieties the more branches and leaves, 

 and the less fruit, are the result. The 

 side shoots may be pinched back to four 

 or five leaves or buds about July, and 

 about November may be out clean back 

 to about three buds. In the case of short 



I-'IG. 153.— FRUIT SPUR OF PEAR. 



FIG. 154. — WOUD- 

 BUDS OF PE\n. 



side growths called 'spurs,' as shown in 

 fig. 153, these, if too numerous, must be 

 reduced and not allowed to project too far 

 from the branch. Indeed the same 

 principles of pruning may be applied to 

 the Pear as to the Apple, the gardener 

 always using his best judgment during the 

 operation (see p. 1031). The drawings 

 show the difference between the flower- 

 buds and wood-buds of a Pear tree. It 

 will be noticed that the flower-buds, as 



