614 Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



to designate this operation, but since this name is usually associated 

 with wounds made more or less deeply in the wood, which result in 

 ultimate death, as when a tree is girdled by mice or girdled for the 

 purpose of killing, it is unfortunately chosen. French writers use the 

 phrase, "decortication annulaire" (annular decortication) which is 

 more exact than either ringing or girdling. 



The object of ringing is to induce and increase fruitfulness. In the 

 growth of plants, unassimilated sap rises from the roots through 

 the outer woody cylinder of the main stem to the leaves. There it 

 is changed into a suitable form for utilization in plant growth. 

 This sap is then distributed, through cells in the cortex and inner bark, 

 to the various plant organs. When plants are ringed the upward flow 

 of sap is not materially impeded, but returning juices are prevented 

 from passing below the wound. This causes an unusual accumula- 

 tion above, thus supplying the upper portion of the plant with an ex- 

 tra amount of food at the expense of the parts below the ring. 



The practice of ringing is by no means of recent origin but is known 

 to have been in use at least a century ago for the purpose of increasing 

 productiveness of woody plants. Thus, according to Prince, 1 writing 

 in 1832, Lindley, in his Guide to the Orchard and Kitchen Garden, 

 advocated its use to bring fruit trees into bearing. Sorauer 2 discussed 

 at length the principle involved and the practicability of the operation. 

 Goodman 3 considered ringing just as important in the scheme of 

 orchard management as pruning and cultivation. According to his 

 experiments with a large number of trees the crop was increased 

 five fold. Van Deman 4 recommends the ringing of apple and pear trees 

 only when all other means of inducing them to bear have failed. He 

 discourages the practice of the operation with stone fruits. Paddock 5 

 found that with certain varieties of grapes ringing produced an in- 

 creased size of cluster and earliness of ripening but the operation was 

 too devitalizing to be recommended as a common practice. Daniel 6 

 found that the annual ringing of tomatoes and egg-plants produced a 

 marked increase in the size of the fruits borne. Sablon 7 ringed various 



1 Prince, William. Pomological Manual. 2:X-XI. 1832. 



2 Sorauer, Paul. Physiology of Plants, pp. 159-164. 1895. 



3 Goodman, L. A. N. Y. State Fruit Growers' Assoc. An. Rpt. 5: 59. 1906. 

 * Van Deman, H. E. Rural N. Y. 73: 1181. 1914. 



6 Paddock, W. N. Y. Sta. Bui. 151 : 1898. 



6 Daniel, L. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 131: 1253-1255. 1900. 



'Sablon, Leclerc du. Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. (Paris) 140: 1553-1555. 1905. 



