PRUNING LE CONTE AND KIEFFER PEAR TREES. 



lARS ARE being planted by the hundreds 

 of thousands in the south Atlantic and 

 Gulf states, and it is important that the 



A POORLY PRUNED Le CoNTE PeAR TREE. 



best way to manage them should be known. 

 The oriental race of pear trees and their hybrids, 

 when on their own roots, or the roots of each 



other on fairly good 

 soil, if allowed their 

 own way, run up like 

 Lombardy poplars, 

 the Le Conte fre- 

 quently attaining a 

 height of 40 feet at 

 nine or ten years of 

 age. There are ob- 

 jections to such tall 

 trees ; the difficulty 

 of harvesting the 

 fruit from the top 

 branches ; the long 

 limbs frequently 

 breaking off with t h e 

 weight of the fruit ; 

 or the fruit is liable 

 to be thrashed off by 

 the wind swaying the 

 limbs against each 

 other. 



We illustrate an eight 

 year old Le Conte that 

 has had very little prun- 

 ing. The fruit was not 

 matured when the pho- 

 tograph was taken, but 

 already several limbs 

 have been propped to 

 prevent breaking off 

 with the weight of the 

 pears. 



It is merely a matter 

 of yearly winter prun- 

 ing to bring these trees 

 into a desirable shape ; 

 but many of our fruit 

 growers object to the 

 free use of the shears, 

 fearing that the neces- 

 sary close annual prun- 

 ing for six or seven 

 years will impair the 

 fruitfulness or affect 

 the longevity of the 

 trees. The majority 

 of our growers do very 

 little pruning. Others 



