MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, &c. 63 



pruning inevitably brings on the canker ; and, by the spurs 

 standing out so far, the blossom and fruit are liable to be much 

 injured by frost and blighting winds, and thus the sap will not 

 have a free circulation ail over the tree. The sap will always 

 find its way first to the extremities of the shoots ; and the spurs 

 will only receive it in a small proportion, as it returns from the 

 ends of the branches. The fruit standing at so great a distance 

 from the branch, is liable to be hard, spotted, and kernelly ; 

 as Letter D. Plate 7. 



I have adopted the following method when the trees were 

 all over cankered, and the fruit small, and not fit to be sent to 

 the table. I cut the tops ofi" as near as possible to where they 

 were grafted ; always observing to cut as close to a joint or bud 

 as possible. The buds are hardly perceptible ; but you can 

 always know where the joints, or forks, are, by the branches 

 breaking out of the sides. 



Finding the pear-trees in Kensington Gardens in a very 

 cankery and unfruitful state, in the years 1784 and 5, I took 

 out the old mould from the borders against the walls, and put 

 in fresh loam in its stead ; at the same time I pruned and nailed 

 the trees in the common way, and left them in that state up- 

 wards of eighteen months, to see what effect the fresh mould 

 would have on them; but to my great surprize, I found that 

 it had no good effect. 



After I had tried the fresh mould as above, I began to 

 consider what was best to be done with so many old pear-trees 

 that were worn out. The fruit that they produced I could not 

 send to his Majesty's table with any credit to myself, it being 

 small, hard, and kernelly- I thought it would be a great re- 

 flection on me as a professional man, that after I had put his 

 Majesty to so great an expence, no advantage was likely to be 

 derived from it. I saw that some new method must be tried 

 to restore these old trees, or that next year they must be grub- 

 bed up, and was loth to give them entirely up before I had 

 tried some experiments. I considered, that it must be between 

 twelve and fourteen years before \ could have any fruit from 

 young trees y and therefore determined to try an experiment, 

 with a view of recovering the old ones, 



I began with cutting down four old decayed pear-trees 

 of different kinds, near to the place where they had been graft- 

 ed : This operation was performed on the 15th of May, 1786. 

 Finding that they put forth fine shoots, I headed down four 

 more on the 20th of June in the same year (for by this time 

 the former had shoots of a foot long), which did equally well, 

 and bore some fruit in the following year. One of the first 



