PRUNING THE QUINCE. 69 



pearance and office from the leaves, yet, under some cir- 

 cumstances, they all assume the same appearance and 

 office. Accepting this idea, we are still unable to ex- 

 plain how or why a given course of treatment causes a 

 tree to convert a part of its buds into flowers, by forming 

 their leaf-scales into calyx, corolla, stamens, and pistils, 

 while its other buds become branches clothed with 

 nothing but leaves. 



The period of fruitfulness varies in different species of 

 plants, and in different varieties of the same species. It 

 is often in our power to advance or retard these periods 

 by our methods of cultivation. The law as stated by 

 Lindley is, ' ' Whatever produces excessive vigor in plants 

 is favorable to the formation of leaf-buds, and unfavor- 

 able to the production of flower-buds ; while, on the 

 other hand, such circumstances as tend to diminish lux- 

 uriance, and to check rapid vegetation, without affecting 

 the health of the individual, are more favorable to the 

 production of flower-buds than of leaf-buds." 



(a.) Root Pruning, if performed at the right time, 

 checks too vigorous growth in highly cultivated trees and 

 renders them fruitful. How far from the trunk of the 

 tree to cut off the roots must be determined by the size 

 of the tree. Wm. Saunders recommends from three to 

 six feet from the stem, according to the size of the tree, 

 and to perform the operation by digging a circular 

 trench, so as to cut off all the roots. He says: " If done 

 in August, the supply of sap will immediately be lessened, 

 the wood-maturing principle accelerated, and fruit-buds 

 formed. The operation has been performed in spring 

 with but little benefit, but if done in the fall can not fail 

 in producing the desired results." F. P. Gasson cuts off 

 the roots of a tree four inches in diameter, within two 

 feet of the trunk, only leaving a circle of roots four feet 

 in diameter ; and this, too, after the leaves have fallen in 

 autumn. He fertilizes liberally in the fall with solid 



