For several years after planting, the pear needs to be pruned only to train the tree to the height of head determined upon and to form the top. Exceptions are the sorts which produce few branches and thus form straggling heads. This defect is overcome by cutting back some of the branches in the spring, an operation which increases the number of branches. A few other sorts, as Winter Nelis and White Doyenné, have drooping, twisting, wayward branches which can be trained into manageable shape only by cutting back or tying the branches in place. Pear-growers as a rule prune young trees too much. Over-pruning increases the growth of wood and leaf too greatly, and thus delays the fruiting of the plant. A good deal might be said about the use and abuse of heading-in pears--that is, cutting back the terminal growths from year to year. Dwarf pears must be headed-in severely to keep the trees down, but standard trees should be headed-in only to make the tops thicker and broader--a desirable procedure with some varieties. Old trees often need to be pruned to increase their vigor. Such pruning is often spoken of as _pruning for wood_. When the tops of pear-trees have dead and dying wood, when the seasonal growth is short and slender, when the crops are small and the pears lack size, or when trees are weakened by disease, a healthy condition may oftentimes be restored by severely cutting back some branches and wholly removing others. In such pruning the following rules ought to be observed: Weak-growing varieties are pruned heavily; strong-growing kinds, lightly. Varieties which branch freely need little pruning; those having few and unbranching limbs should be pruned closely. In cool, damp climates, trees produce much wood and need little pruning; in hot dry climates, growth is scant and trees need much pruning. Rich, deep soils favor growth; trees in such soils should be pruned lightly. In light or shallow soils, trees produce few and short shoots; the pruning of trees on such soils should be severe.