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kinds and varieties of fruit. It is true that some kinds of 

 fruit trees and some varieties of the same kind, are more 

 subject to barrenness than others ; but the facts remain, 

 and no satisfactory explanation has yet been promulgated. 

 The phenomena has-been attributed to many causes by 

 various authors who have experimented and written on the 

 subject, but scarcely any two of them ascribe the fault t<> 

 the same conditions. 



The orange tree is no exception to the general rule, 

 and many large trees, which are aged and thrifty may be 

 found scattered about in most groves, and solitary, which 

 have produced little or no fruit and failed to perform the 

 important functions which nature intended them to fullfilL 

 Many remedies have been recommended to cure the 

 evil by those who have given it much attention, such as 

 root pruning, summer pruning, bending down the branches 

 below the horizontal to check the flow of sap upwards ; 

 girdling and debarking. The first, is attended with a vast 

 amount of labor, besides it has a tendency to destroy in a 

 measure the equilibrium and vitality of the tree. The sec- 

 ond, is impracticable to any great extent, or when applied 

 to large trees. The third remedy "girdling," seems the 

 most rational and practical ; is attended with little incon- 

 venience ; is sure to accomplish the object, and is not likely 

 to compromise the life or usefulness of the tree ; although 

 it has a tendency to dwarf it somewhat. 



The practice of girdling to produce fruitfulness in bar- 

 ren trees, arid also to bring into early bearing arid ripening, 

 of the fruit on young trees, has been employed by pomo- 

 logists, frequently, for the last one hundred years, but riot 

 until recently has the method come into extensive use for 

 the purpose. Some of the extensive fruit growers of the 



