OWATONNA EXPERIMENT STATION. 268 
lot of plum trees grown from nuts from plums of large size and 
good quality, about forty are bearing, and a few of them are likely 
to be of some value. 
One cherry tree, which I call Budd’s Autograph, is moderately 
well loaded with fruit of small size and apparently poor quality; 
some others are looking well and some poorly. 
Russian pears are not doing very well, but the Longworth is mak- 
ing a very rapid growth and seems as hardy asa crab, but is liable 
—and, I might say, likely—to be knocked out by our next hard 
winter. 
The dwarf Juneberry is bearing heavily every year, but the fruit 
is all gobbled up by the birds. 
We are trying one experiment from which we have reason to expect 
very favorable results: we are girdling fruit trees with a view to 
bringing them into early bearing. We have noticed that trees that 
have received serious injury often blossom profusely, and we may 
infer that checking the flow of sap tends to fruitfulness. A limb of 
an apple tree of considerable size was girdled last year,and this 
year it was full of blossoms, with not another blossom on the tree. 
The girdling of a limb by the label wire produced the same result, 
and a limb on a small orchard tree also girdled by the label wire 
has several apples on it at the present time. With these facts in 
sight, we have girdled quite extensively this season. 
It is the present plan to leave trees enough for an orchard on all 
ground covered with nursery trees, and,there now being many times 
more trees than can remain permanently, girdling may be practiced 
in a reckless way, as, if half the trees are killed, no harm will result. 
On very rapidly growing trees,it is likely that the girdling will need 
to be repeated every year or two, whilst,with slow growing or tender 
varieties, it may berisky to girdle at all. A Duchess tree girdled 
this rear will likely bear heavily next year; the year after, or the 
second year after, the wound may be completely healed over, and 
the effects of the girdling be gone. Who knows that we may not by 
this girdling process not only hurry up tardy bearers, but by study- 
ing up the nature of different varieties, we may regulate to some 
extent the annual production. Wonderful are nature’s laws and 
hard to understand. The best time to girdle is not yet known, but I 
regard May and June as perfectly safe, and the range is probably 
much wider. My method is to remove aring of bark, one-eighth to 
one-quarter of an inch wide below the limb. I have placed wires 
tightly about some trees which are expected to do the girdling next 
year. I have also used a saw, running around the tree spirally, 
without completing thecircle. This seemsto be the most expedi- 
tious and practical, produces the same effect and can be readily 
worked on large trees as well as small. 
I notice that trees girdled the first of May have thrown out sprouts 
profusely and have not increased in size below the girdle, while 
there are no sprouts and the tree is much enlarged just above the 
girdle. This seems to prove the theory that elements of growth 
come almost entirely from the atmosphere, moisture only coming 
from the soil. 
