THE PEAR. 



451 



ing the trees, " It is the most simple of all 

 methods of root-pruning : it consists of merely 

 digging a trench round the tree early in Novem- 

 ber, and lifting it out of the ground carefully, 

 with all the earth possible attached to the roots, 

 shortening with the knife any that are strag- 

 gling. If the soil be rich, so that trees unre- 

 moved are inclined to grow too vigorously, no 

 fresh compost will be required, and it will 

 merely be necessary to shovel into the hole 

 some of the earth from the surface around it to 

 2 or 3 inches in depth ; this will prevent the 

 tree settling down too deeply. If the soil be 

 poor, some rotten dung, at least six months old, 

 and loam, or any light earth, equal parts, or 

 moor earth, may be placed at the bottom in the 

 same manner, and some of the same compost, 



say half a wheelbarrowful to each tree, may be 

 thrown over its roots when replanting it." The 

 following treatment he finds equally beneficial 

 to the pear, whether on the pear or quince stock : 

 " In low situations, near brooks and rivers, a 

 black moor earth is generally found. This un- 

 prepared is unfit for horticultural purposes, but 

 if dug out and laid in a ridge, and one-eighth 

 part of unslacked lime spread over it, turning it 

 immediately and mixing the lime with it, it will 

 become in the course of five or six weeks an 

 excellent compost for pear trees. I have," he 

 says, " in some instances added half a bushel of 

 burnt earth to a barrowful of this moor earth 

 with good effect : in planting, one wheelbarrow- 

 ful to a tree will be enough. The only method 

 to cultivate successfully pyramidal pears, on 



Fig. 194. 



sizes op pears. a large (Beune" Diel) ; b medium (White Doyenne) ; c small (Seckel). 



forms op pears, a pyriform ; b obovate ; c turbinate ; d roundish. 



