37 



rian crab, S.B. the same budded and W. Williams' Favorite: 

 S. W. S.B. S. W. S.B. S. W. S.B. 

 The trees were all of the same size as nearly as could be selected, 

 and every third tree in the row was top-budded with the Williams' 

 Favorite. The buds all grew well the first season, but the subsequent 

 growth was very little, and at the .end of ten years all were dead. 

 The diameters of the three Siberian crabs were 4, 4i and 6 inches, of 

 the three Williams' Favorite, 3^, 3 and 3 inches, while none of the 

 budded trees reached over | of an inch. Plates IX, X, XI illustrate 

 the results of this test. 



REPORT UPON GIRDLING GRAPES, BY DR.JABEZ FISHER, 



FITCHBURG, MASS. 



In my last communication on this subject, as printed in Bulletin 

 No. 13, page 12, I used the following language : " Whether it is 

 possible to long continue the operation without injury to the ripening 

 of the roots of the vine. The three years in which this treatment 

 has been carried out has not developed as yet an answer to this 

 question." 



Previous to the swelling of the buds last spring no difference could 

 be detected, but soon afterward it was noticed that the vines which had 

 been girdled the previous year broke unevenly', that the clusters of 

 buds were smaller and the commencing growth of the canes less 

 vigorous. This was intensified as growth progressed and became 

 more and more apparent as the season wore on. While all were 

 entirely healthy, the vines which had been girdled in 1890 showed a 

 manifest lack of fruit and a smaller and weaker cane grown for 

 fruiting in 1892. The favorable weather of September enabled these 

 canes to make up their deficiency in some degree and at the close of 

 the season they all look well and are perfectly ripened. None of 

 them were giidled this year. 



To determine the influence of last year's girdling I kept the fruit 

 grown upon the difl!"erent plots separate. Plot No. 1 had never been 

 girdled ; No. 2 had had one-half of each vine girdled, and No. 3 the 

 whole of each vine. Each plot contained 120 vines and covered 

 about 11,500 square feet. All were contiguous and fairly comparable 

 with each other. After the leaves had fallen I measured with cali- 

 pers the diameter of each cane of these 360 vines, 720 in all, at half 

 their length (three feet) from the trunk. 



