St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-06-26
Management of LecOntc Pear
Frees.
Southern CultiyatOr.


pruning peculiar to itself, by reason of
its habits of growth, its tendency to
| run ND like Lom hardy poplar, and the
| unusually large size the tree attains at
an early age.
The tree will thrive and fruit with
out pruning, but may assume an nn-
calmly shape; some Of the branches
will run up too high, the fruit on them
will be inaccessible and liable to be
whipped Off by the winds. The l.e-
! Conte bears phenomenal crops Of fruit,
and should therefore be stocky, with
large, sturdy limbs, and have d we'll
balanced head, so that the fruit will
not be beaten off by storms, and be
convenient TO" gathering.
In general terms, the required trlm-
ming consists of an annual shortening
in of the longest branches, and reniov-
ing the inside limbs SO as to cause the
tree to spread and form il symmetrical
/ top.
Thomas county is headquarters for
/ the LeConte pear. Our orci ard trees
can be counted by hundreds of thou
sands, ranging from one to seventeen
years old. The knowledge Of this
management, that comes OF experience,
/ should be worth something to the
novice.
Begin with one year old trees. which
are really tie best for orchard planting
They are trained in the nu sely to one
stem. are about two inches in circum
/ ference at the collar, and about five
feet high. Three feet of the top should
be cut of before or at planting. In
other words. the tree should be cut
back to two feet.
During the spring and summer some
of the low buds should he rubbed off,
throwing the growth in the upper bud.
This upper or top bud should make a
gl Wth of five to eight feet and dur
ing the winter should be cut back to
four feet from the ground
Subsequent pruning consists i'll an
uualIy cutting back the leader aud the
longer branches. aud removing the in
side branches. This should be done in
such manner a> to cause the head to
spread uniformly from tie centre
/ stock or leader \ LeConte tree,
should, at five years, be about fifteen
inches in girth above the collar. fifteen
to eighteen feet high, eight or ten feet
across the branches at the widest part.
and OF symmetrical cone shape. There
should be ii leader in the centre, and
the limbs begin at two feet from the
/ ground and dlVerge at intervals to the
top If the longest limbs, including
/ the leader, are annually cnt back, leav
ing the leader somewhat the longest,
and the useless buds and limbs removed,
the tree naturally assumes the shape
! described above. At five to six years
old the tree commences to form fruit
| buds, and will require but little prun-
ing thereafter. The weight of the
fruit causes the branches to spread, and
the tendency to grow tall meaSurably
ceases, although the rapid growth OF
the tree continues for several years.
An average twelve-year-o tree Is
thirty inches in circumference above
the collar, twenty feet high aud twenty
wide. Neglected trees would not be so
large at that age We find them prof.
! table, and SO we treat them generously
! | have heard men say that they
would not take 800 apiece for their
trees. And the reason they gave was
that the sales of the fruit had averaged
them - per cent. annually on that sum
since they were nine years old.
The cultivation consists in stirring
the soil near the trees during the grow
in. season, breaking the crust after
every rain, and allowing no weeds or
grass near them. Any annual crop can
be grown between the rows that re-
uuires frequent stirring of the soil.
The LeConte throws out no surface
roots until it commences fruiting; con-
sequently, for the first four years all
fertilizers should be applied within a
radius of four feet of the tree. If the
land he poor Il few applications of
stable or lot manure. or woods earth,
annually will be foulri valuable. Wood
ashes or kainit in the spring and stable
manure in the fall will cause Il surpris-
ing growth. If, for any reason, the
soil near the tree cannot be stirred, Il
heavy mulching of any coarse material
makes very satisfactory substitute
Chip manure from the wood pile makes
a good mulching for trees in the lawn
or front yard.
As said above, until the leConte
commences hearing it has few or n'
lateral roots (unlesS 1t Is a grated tree
and then it is no good with us. aud the
manure should be applied within d ra-
dius of about four feet from the tree
so that it does not require ii large
amount of fertilizer for Il young or
; cIlard. But in time the roots will oc
cupy all the intervening ground, aud i
the soil he poor it should he gradual,
improved by growing peas and othe
renDvatlng crops, as opportunity offers
while the trees are young.
\ word about grated trees. We flint
them complete failure here and til,
same may be said concerning hastars
J trees, T., trees grown from cuttings
taken from grated trees. | can give
no instruction as to their management
and what have said is applicable onl,
} to the genuine pedigree LeConte tree
; 1t is claimed that grated LeCsnt
J trees do pretty well in some localities.
Tho havlaanS NOT have man
railroads, but anybody trying to rails
| l. L. Er4 &orAiE,,