FLOWERS AND FRUIT. 75 



ornamental trees. July and August are favorable months 

 to tie down. The branches are secured to pegs driven in 

 the ground. All kinds of trees and plants may be in- 

 duced to flower and fruit, no matter how 

 luxuriant their growth, by a judicious use 

 of the bending process. 



3. Ringing the branches. This is done 

 by taking off a ring of bark wide enough 

 to arrest the circulation of the sap, com- 

 pelling it to accumulate above the ring. 

 The same effect is often produced by a 

 ligature made of wire. The effect is to 

 produce early maturity in the fruit and 



an increase in its size, but at the ex- RI if GINCL 

 pense of its quality. There seems, how- 

 ever, to be no use for this operation on the quince. 



4. Grafting is a method of inducing early fruitfulness. 

 A cion from a young seedling may be grafted on the 

 limb of a bearing tree, and thus be brought into a fruitful 

 condition much sooner than if left on the seedling stock. 

 This is advantageous in testing new varieties. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

 FLOWERS AND FRUIT. 



IT has long been observed that a very full blossoming 

 often results in but little fruit ; sometimes none at all. 

 Why is it thus ? A variety of causes may operate to 

 produce the failure of fruit. If the weather be so un- 

 favorable as to prevent the blossoms from performing 

 their appointed work, failure is inevitable. When the 

 weather is very dry while the trees are in bloom the fruc- 

 tification is often too imperfect to set the fruit, and the 

 blossoms dry up and drop off. Or, on the other hand, 



