They sure both look Asian to me. I think you should maybe replace both with trees properly identified, but because they are probably Asian they will probably adequately identify themselves very shortly. If they are Asian you don't have to worry about speeding their fruiting- they may even bear next season. The reason I would consider replacing them is because fireblight can be heartbreaking and even if you graft on other varieties the trees may be susceptible unless you have no tender new wood from original trees. On the bright side, many Asians are fireblight resistant. Multiple leader pear trees are common in commercial production in the west coast. Here in the east they are mostly grown to a central leader- I guess we don't get quite as much FB. Festooning (pulling branches below horizontal)the branches may encourage early fruiting but it will not encourage a great scaffold structure. I sometimes use the method for trees I plan to train to a weep or for Euro plums just to get them into fruiting mode but many types of pears should not be trained this way in my opinion. None of the Asians I grow would be good candidates for this, they fruit so early anyway. Asian and European pears are mostly pollen compatible- the problem can be timing of bloom. That issue will sort itself out as well when trees begin to flower.

Scott: Where are these "leaders" located on the tree? Are they all vertically oriented, near the center of the tree, and close to one another? If so, and with all due respect to the Texas A&M system, I would completely remove the two vigorous leaders and leave the least vigorous without any pruning. Asian pears are like many other fruit trees. If you want to keep them within range so you can prune, thin, pick and spray, vertical growth is not what you want to encourage. You seem to have one leader that has less of a tendency to upward growth, and that is the one most likely to be fruitful and the one I would select. When this leader begins to put on lateral growth, that is where you will pick the most Asian pears. If you prune back the two vigorous leaders now, in the late dormant season, you will find bushy growth generated at the point of the cut. That will also be true if you cut them off at the base, but you can remedy that by pruning again in late summer, removing all the new growth to discourage them. For me, the biggest chore with Asian pears every spring is thinning. I have several varieties, and get about 99% pollination, which leads to many fruit clusters with 5-6 small fruits. I have to thin in at least three stages before I get the crop reduced to the point that the fruits can reach their full potential, without breaking branches. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Pears are more difficult to bring down in height than apples but if you remove a few feet a year you will probably be fine. I am constantly working on trees allowed to reach impractical heights and often take off 10' a year from apples, depending on relative health of lower branches. I've always figured it was safer to prune pears in mid-summer to avoid FB season while also discouraging vigorous water sprouting which also encourages FB but I've never seen any research on the subject. As far as thinning distance, you need to know the eventual size of the pear to know how much fruit to leave. Obviously if it's something like a Tyson or Seckel you'd leave much more fruit than a larger pear type. Pruning does make a pear more vulnerable to FB so you can't be sure that health of pears isn't the result of that negligence.

Hi again. Please don't apologize for the small photo- I'll confess to not knowing how to post one at all, so you're way ahead of me. The larger one made things much clearer. About the fireblight issue: Yes, it can be very serious for pears. A few years ago a local nurseryman persuaded me to remove a Bartlett I'd planted and replace it with a Gold Spice on OHF5xx on the grounds that sooner or later the Barlett would get blight and the OHF rootstock and Gold Spice had shown themselves to be pretty resilient. So I gave away the Bartlett, and it died this year of fireblight. But do be prepared to spray for fireblight if it becomes an issue locally. Pruning is an essential control of fireblight (to remove blighted material) too. So far I've been lucky, even though this year there was quite a bit of it around. Youre mileage will vary- a quick google search will give you a wealth of information, such as this link: http://www.crophealth.com/fire_blight.htm Also, a regularly, properly pruned pear will have an open, airy structure that is less inclined to disease, and will make it easier to detect the first symptoms. So in time you'll need to prune it, and in time it will require only maintenance pruning. I'll take the liberty of copying one of Don's responses to me, when I asked him about summer pruning my youngish pear: >>* Posted by jellyman 6/7VA (My Page) on Tue, Sep 5, 06 at 11:59 Mark: I think it depends on the tree and its individual circumstances and characteristics. Summer pruning places stress on a tree. In my orchard, where all the trees are healthy and vigorous, and mulched at least once a year with a thick layer of stable manure, that stress is a positive factor since it promotes fruiting spur development and helps control unwanted vegetative growth. I don't think I would summer prune a weak, sick, or spindly tree, or a very young tree that is just establishing its scaffold. But when they reach 5-6 years of age and begin substantial fruit production, I think you can switch over entirely to summer pruning so long as trees remain healthy. One other thing I have done to the apple trees in recent years is to completely remove the central leaders and change them over to more of a vase shape. I think this has improved the color and quality of the apples, as well as making the trees easier to spray, thin, and pick. And I have cut off these major leader branches in late summer to try to discourage the bushy regrowth that will inevitibly occur at the pruning cut. Regrowth still occurs, but it is less vigorous than if done in the dormant season. When bushy regrowth occurs in the center of the trees, I cut it off immediately as I wander around the orchard. I usually carry a pruning shears in my back pocket when I am out there. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA My own instincts for your tree are to prune it this March in such a way as to encourage some of those lower branches to develop, but Don may suggest waiting another year, and he knows what he's talking about whereas I'm still struggling with a lot of it. I'd really like to hear other opinions and instruction on that. Hope this has helped. Good luck, M