select the alternative that will make the second year analogous to the first pear given as
Answers
Here is an article I wrote recently on this topic. Maybe your friend will find something to explain her fruitless pear trees.
If you have backyard fruit trees that you’ve nurtured along in anticipation of a delicious home-grown harvest, only to be disappointed by a lack of fruit, there are a number of possible causes. Maybe you have older trees that have been reliable bearers and they’ve suddenly decided not to produce fruit. What could be the problem?
With new, young fruit trees, it could just be their age. Most fruit tree nursery stock is sold when the trees are only one to two years old. Bearing age ranges from 2 to 7 years depending on the cultivar, rootstock and tree vigor. Dwarf trees will generally begin to bear sooner than standard size trees, with the semi-dwarfs falling in between. A tree that is growing at a moderate rate will bear earlier than one growing either too rapidly or too slowly. Growth rate is affected by environmental conditions, soil fertility, and moisture availability.
Plant fruit trees in a sunny location with enough space to avoid root competition with other nearby plants and trees. Competition from weeds or grasses can be reduced using cultivation, mulch or properly labeled herbicides. Avoid excess nitrogen fertilizer. This stimulates vegetative growth at the expense of flower bud production. Overfertilization is one of the most common causes of reduced flower bud production in the backyard orchard. This is due to the application of high-nitrogen fertilizer to lawn areas around the tree. Fertilizer recommendations for fruit trees are ¼ lb. of nitrogen per tree just after planting followed by reducing or eliminating added fertilizer until the tree begins to bear. Once trees begin to bear, if lawn fertilizer is applied that is adequate; if not, apply 0.1 lb. nitrogen per inch of tree trunk diameter. Broadcast the fertilizer over the root zone. To evaluate whether you should increase or decrease your fertilizer rate, note the length of new shoot growth during the previous season. The length of new growth should not exceed 18-20 inches. Of course, a lack of nitrogen and other nutrients that reduce tree vitality will also decrease flower bud formation, fruit development and fruit quality. A soil test can be used to obtain accurate fertilizer recommendations.
Excess pruning can delay the onset of flowering in young trees and stimulate vegetative growth at the expense of flower bud formation in bearing trees. In young non-bearing trees, prune only as needed for developing a strong, desired framework. In bearing trees, adjust the amount of annual pruning based on the length of terminal shoot growth as with fertilization rate. Prune out water sprouts.