NAT. ORDER. POMACES. 
135 
feet ; and dwarf standards, in borders, from fifteen to twenty feet, 
from stem to stem. Wall and espalier plants are placed from fifteen 
to thirty feet, according as they may have been grafted or budded on 
Pear or quince stocks. 
Mode of bearing. As in the apple-tree, the Pear does not pro- 
duce blossoms on the former year's wood, as several other trees do. 
Its blossom-buds are formed upon spurs growing out of wood not 
younger than one year old, and, consequently, projecting spurs all 
over the tree must be left for that purpose. In some Pears, the fruit 
grows only on the inside of those branches which are exposed to the 
sun and air ; in others it occupies every part of the tree. 
Pruning and training standards. Permit these to extend on 
all sides freely. Several years may elapse before any cross-placed, 
very irregular or crowded branches, dead or worn-out bearers, require 
pruning, which give in winter or spring. Keep the head moderately 
open in the middle. " Pruning," Knight observes, " is not often 
wanted in the culture of the Pear-tree, which is rarely much encum- 
bered with superfluous branches ; but in some kinds, whose form of 
growth resembles the apple-tree, it will sometimes be found bene- 
ficial.' 7 
Heading down and pruning old Pear-trees. The method of pru- 
ning Pear-trees is very different from that practiced for apple-trees 
in general. The constant practice has been to have great spurs, 
nearly as large as a man's arm, standing out from the walls, from a 
foot to eighteen inches upwards. The constant cutting of these spurs 
brings on the canker, and the fruit produced is small, spotted and 
kernelly. Some gardeners' practice with such trees is to cut them 
down, and renew the soil at their roots. C. Harrison, and various 
other gardeners, adopt a mode of keeping only short spurs, by which 
much larger fruit is produced. According to this plan, each spur 
bears only once, when it is cut out, and succeeded by an embryo 
bud at its base. This bud at the end of the first season is no more 
than a leaf-bud, but at the end of the second summer it becomes a 
