THE HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 



93 



there is no means equal to keeping them in form like 

 an annual crop. 



Some Pears, such as Marie Louise, "Winter Nelis, 

 and others, lend themselves much more readily to 

 this mode of training than others. There are no 

 sights within the whole range of pomology more 

 satisfying than a row of such shaped trees in full 

 bearing. 



Two common laws of proportion which may be 

 accepted as canons of beauty among pyramidal 

 Pears, are that the height shall equal the circumfer- 

 ence of the base, and that a section of the side should 

 taper regularly from the 

 base to a point at top. But 

 after all, perfection of form 

 in Pears is of far less mo- 

 ment than perpetuity of 

 fertility, and the best means 

 of maintaining the latter 

 must now be briefly ad- 

 verted to. 



How to Keep the 

 Side-shoots of Pyra- 

 mids in Full Bearing. 



— What is here added to 

 our pruning and training 

 of Apples will, it is hoped, 

 prove sufficient to produce 

 and maintain perfect pyra- 

 midal and other shaped 

 Pear - trees in perpetual 

 fertility. But living trees 

 in general, and Pears in 

 particular, in the garden, 

 differ widely from Pear- 

 trees on paper, in this, 

 that they are always striv- 

 ing to get out of shape ; to avoid fertility, or sink 

 under the restrictions and burdens we impose on 

 them. For example, we wish the diameter of the 

 base to exceed that of any other part of the pyramid, 

 and its vigour to increase rather than diminish. The 

 vital force and natural habit of the tree will it other- 

 wise, and hence various means are used to sustain 

 the strength of the bases of Pear-trees, and suppress 

 the vigour of their tops. Among these the simplest 

 is to elevate the base branches, relieve the bottom of 

 the tree of a considerable proportion of its fruit, and 

 suppress the top by vigorous summer pinching, tying 

 down the branches, and heavy loads of fruit. All 

 overcrowding must also be prevented among the 

 side branches, the most vigorous and highest-placed 

 shoots be summer-pinched, twice or oftener, when 

 weaker ones need not be pinched at all, and all 

 small and useless buds be rubbed off or pinched back 



Fig. 38. 



to a single eye, with the hope that such eye may 

 finally develop into a fruit-bud or cluster of buds. 

 Everything, anything, in the form of growth, 

 whether of leaf, shoot, or fruit, not likely to be of 

 use, should be removed so soon as practicable, so as 

 to relieve the tree of all useless encumbrances, and 

 expose the material left to the full influence of light 

 and air. The earlier in reason all this removal of 

 weakly or useless material takes place the better. 

 It should begin by disbudding, a process persistently 

 prosecuted among stone fruits, and often wholly 

 neglected among Pears. On the heels of disbudding 

 should follow summer 

 pinching. This may be 

 more freely practised on 

 the side or lateral than the 

 leading shoots of Pears. 

 Strong shoots, especially on 

 the higher portions of pyra- 

 mids, should be pinched at 

 the third, fourth, or sixth 

 leaf, while other or weaker 

 shoots, lower down, need 

 not be pinched at all. A 

 general stopping of all the 

 side shoots should take 

 place not later than July. 



Best Time and Mode 

 of "Winter Pruning.— 



Opinion and practice vary 

 widely in regard to this. 

 October, or just before the 

 fall of the leaf, seems the 

 best time to prune Pears,, 

 for several reasons. The 

 first is, we can then see 

 far better what to prune, 

 and how many branches to cut out. No sooner do 

 the leaves fall than the trees seem so much thinner 

 of wood than they are. Another reason is that 

 wounds heal quickly when made before the fall of 

 the leaf. Modern culture, while it has multiplied 

 the number of wounds made, has lessened their size 

 so much as to make this a matter of less moment 

 than when whole branches were often butchered off 

 under the name of pruning. Still, it is important 

 that the wounds made by pruning should heal as soon 

 as possible, as the frost is apt to split raw or fresh 

 wounds, and wet thus gets into the pith, to the 

 production of canker or other diseases. But with 

 proper summer pruning, pinching, disbudding, but 

 little autumnal or winter pruning is needful. An 

 advance of a foot in height and from four to six 

 inches in breadth a year, is a fair and satisfactory 

 development for established Pear-trees in full bear- 



Inducement of Fertility by Bending and 

 Breaking down Branches. 



