Pears are the fruit most largely grown in dwarf form in America. There are a few well established and successful commercial orchards of pears, especially in western New York and Michigan. The pear is the fruit most assiduously cultivated in dwarf and trained forms in Europe. At the same time it is the one with which I confess I have had the least satisfaction. This is perhaps because I have always experimented in a country where pears do not naturally succeed, and because, further, my fancies have run more to other kinds of fruit.

It is probably true that the pear is improved more in quality than any other fruit by being grown in dwarf form and trained as cordons and espaliers on a suitable frame or wall. This is emphatically true in cold and inclement climates, where indeed some of the best varieties of pears will not succeed at all unless given this advantage. A west wall is recommended as giving the very finest results. It should be noted, however, that some varieties do better on walls than others. Those which grow vigorously in bush, pyramid, or standard forms receive comparatively less benefit from wall training.

The pear is the best of all trees for training in pyramid form. Sometimes very tall slim pyramids are made, becoming almost pillars of foliage and fruit in their old age. These may be in fact upright cordons which are trained with strong stems and allowed to support themselves without a trellis. Some of the less upright growing varieties are difficult to form into pyramids, and such may be pruned in the ordinary bush or vase form. In growing dwarf pears commercially, as is sometimes done, it is probably best to give most varieties the bush form. The pyramid is rather harder to maintain.

The pear succeeds well as a cordon tree. Perhaps the best form is the oblique cordon, one placed at an angle of about forty-five degrees with the horizon. The upright and horizontal cordons may also be used, though neither of these forms is specially well adapted to pears.

All of the better types of espaliers are suited to pear trees. Probably the Palmette-Verrier is the best, although the old fashioned espaliers are often used. The U-form and the double U-form also succeed if well built.

The pruning of the pear tree is substantially the same as that of the apple. Where pear blight is a factor in the problem, due allowance must be made for it. It sometimes happens that entire branches or arms have to be cut away on account of blighting. The system of pruning therefore should furnish a means of renewing such members promptly when necessity requires.

The quince root prefers a fairly heavy and even moist soil. A heavy clay loam is best, although a strong clay will answer. Light sandy soils or loose gravelly soils will not give such good results. On the other hand any clay soil which holds water to a considerable extent will answer. As these are the requirements for quince roots, they become also the requirements for dwarf pears. Any attempt to grow dwarf pears on a light loose soil is almost certain to prove a failure.

It is often said that dwarf pears should be planted deep in the ground when they are set out. The rule is to put them deep enough so that the bud union will be buried beneath the surface of the soil. With such treatment the pear itself often throws out roots and eventually establishes a feeding system of its own, becoming independent of the quince stock. It is then no longer a dwarf tree except by the authority of the pruning knife. It is probably true that many varieties of dwarf pears are longer lived when treated in this way. In planting, therefore, it becomes a question whether one desires chiefly a long-lived tree or a strictly dwarf one. The ease with which dwarf trees are replaced makes longevity a less important factor than in commercial orchards of standard trees.

Of course, it is understood that if the dwarfest form is to be maintained, the tree must be planted high enough to leave the union out of the ground, thus preventing the pear from throwing out roots of its own.

The varieties principally grown in this country as dwarfs are Angouleme, Bartlett, Anjou, and Louise Bonne.

In European nurseries the list of pears propagated on quince roots is much larger. The following varieties are recommended for England by Mr. Owen Thomas, and are said to be particularly good for training on walls: