THE PEARS OF NEW YORK 105 
dead and dying wood, when the seasonal growth is short and slender, 
when the crops are small and the pears lack size, or when trees are weakened 
by disease, a healthy condition may oftentimes be restored by severely 
cutting back some branches and wholly removing others. In such pruning 
the following rules ought to be observed: 
Weak-growing varieties are pruned heavily; strong-growing kinds, 
lightly. 
Varieties which branch freely need little pruning; those having few 
and unbranching limbs should be pruned closely. 
In cool, damp climates, trees produce much wood and need little 
pruning; in hot dry climates, growth is scant and trees need much pruning. 
Rich, deep soils favor growth; trees in such soils should be pruned 
lightly. In light or shallow soils, trees produce few and short shoots; the 
pruning of trees on such soils should be severe. 
A good deal is said about pruning for fruit. It is doubtful, however, 
whether unfruitful pear-trees can be made more fruitful by the pruning 
recommended for this purpose. When barrenness is caused by the produc- 
tion of wood and foliage at the expense of fruit-buds, as possibly sometimes 
happens, summer-pruning may check the over-production of growth and 
cause flower-buds to form. There seems to be no definite experiments to 
prove this theory in America, nor do pear-growers generally practice this 
kind of pruning which has been preached so long and so often. To follow 
the rules in this operation, summer-pruning should be done when the growth 
for the season has nearly ceased. If done earlier, the shoots cut back start 
again and the pruning has been useless. If done too late, there is too 
little time for the production of fruit-buds. In the unequable climate 
of this country it is most difficult to know when to prune in the summer 
to meet the requirements of the theory urged so strongly by European 
pomologists. A weighty objection to summer-pruning in America is that 
the wounds might and probably would become centers of infection for 
blight. 
There is no attempt to give a full discussion of pruning in this text. 
Such details as making the cut, covering the wounds, pruning paraphernalia, 
filling cavities and the amount to prune, belong to texts on pruning. 
Perhaps two minor details important in growing pears should be mentioned. 
Suckers or water-sprouts form so freely on branches of pears that they 
often seriously devitalize the tree, and usually are centers of blight. They 
should therefore be removed promptly whenever and wherever found. The 
