MANAGEMENT OF FRUIT TREES, &c. 97 



mould would have on them ; but, to my great furprize, I 

 found that it had no good effect. 



After I had tried the freiTi mould as above, I began to con- 

 fid er what was belt to be done with fo many old Pear-trees 

 that were worn out. The fruit that they produced 1 could 

 not fend to his Majefty's table with any credit to myfelf, it 

 being fmall, hard, and kernelly. I thought it would be a 

 great reflection on me as a profeffional man, that after I had 

 put his Majefty to fo great an expence, no advantage was 

 likely to be derived from it. I faw that fome method muft 

 be tried to reftore thefe old trees, or that next year they muft 

 be grubbed up, and was loth to give them entirely up before 

 I had tried fome experiments. I confidered, that it muft be 

 between twelve and fourteen years before I could have anv 

 fruit from young trees ; and therefore determined to try an 

 experiment, with a view to recovering the old ones. 



I began with cutting down four old and decayed Pear-trees 

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

 grafted: this operation was performed on the 15th of May 

 1786. Finding that they put forth fine fhoots, I headed 

 down four more on the 20th of June in the fame year (for by 

 this time the former had fhoots of a foot long), which did 

 equally well, and bore fome fruit in the folio wing year. One 

 of the firft four that I headed down was a St. Germain, which 

 produced nineteen fine large well-flavoured Pears next year, 

 [See Letter B. Plate VII.] and in the third bore more 

 fruit than it did in its former ftate when it was four times 

 the fize. 



I left feven trees upon an Eaft wall, treated according to 

 the common method of pruning, which bore the foil-owing 

 dumber of Pears upon each tree : 



O Epine 



