Winter Meeting. 165 



and pear, which only showed a few blooms where not girdled. It looked 

 a good deal as though we would have had about as many apples if the 

 trees had not been touched. It was only a few days, however, before we 

 noticed the bloom on the ungirdled trees showed signs of blasting, and 

 in a few weeks there were scarcely any apples on them, while on the 

 girdled trees the blooms stayed and set large quantities of fruit, which 

 hung on well and colored very much more than on the other trees. In 

 order to know what we gained by girdling we picked and measured the 

 ?.pples from the treated York tree and also from one growing by the side 

 of it not treated, and there was a difference of 8J/2 bushels in favor of 

 the girdled tree ; we picking 95^ bushels from it. In the case of the Black 

 Twig the difference was about the same. The Wealthy branch treated 

 nearly broke under the weight of fruit, while the balance of tree had 

 scarcely an apple. The result proved the same in case of the pear tree. 

 Had we girdled our York and Black Twig trees in 1903 our apple crop 

 would have been over 2,000 bushels greater this year. Do you blame 

 us for girdling them this year? 



Now, a word of caution, and I am done. Don't take your knife and 

 go to your trees "just any old time" and girdle any old way. Judgment 

 must be exercised in this as in spraying. Some spray at the wrong time 

 with the wrong mixture, or use it too strong or not strong enough and 

 get no good results, or perhaps kill their trees, and then condemn the prac- 

 tice. In our girdling this year we had an experience on some 200 seven- 

 year-old trees that, had we not been on the watch would have proved 

 disastrous. Three days after doing the work we were out looking at the 

 trees and found the thick sap had dried up and wood getting dry and 

 trees in good shape to die. To say we were somewhat wrought up would 

 be putting it mildly. Don't like to be laughed at, you know, and then 

 did not like the idea of losing 200 seven-year-old trees. We started 

 two men at once to binding them up, putting fresh cow manure on the 

 wound and binding it on with strips of cloth, and today every tree is 

 healed over in good shape. Think the sap was not thick enough and too 

 hot and dry when the work was done, and so I say use caution and do 

 the work on a day or days that are damp and cloudy if possible and notice 

 that the sap under the bark is thick, and use care not to injure it, and 

 you can make your trees bear and pay for their keeping. 



DISCUSSION ON PRUNING AND CULTIVATION. 



Secy. Goodman — Mr. May undertook the above experiment at my 

 suggestion, and I am glad to note his report. In confirmation of this 

 plan I can quote similar results from girdling over 1,500 apple trees be- 



