some Results folio icing lis application to tJic Pear Tree. 363 



and greatly inferior, — two years after it will probal)ly equal in 

 quality that borne by the branches subjected to the incision. 



The second effect which M. Van Mons found to follow from 

 the process of ringing the pear tree, and which he considers not 

 the less valuable from the number of applications which may be 

 made of it, is the power which it has of preserving the vitality 

 and vigor of the branches operated upon, when, from any sud- 

 den disease, as the blight, &c., the tree is liable to perish. ]M. 

 Van Mons has witnessed a number of illustrations of this inter- 

 esting fact in one of his own gardens, where the soil, of only 

 about a foot in depth, rests upon a stratum of ochreous, gravelly 

 sand, which has never been moved. The roots of the trees no 

 sooner penetrate this layer of sand, than the extremities of the 

 branches are attacked by blight; but the branches on which 

 ringing has been practised entirely escape, as if this operation 

 had established a direct relation between them and those roots 

 not in contact with the layer of sand. 



M. Van Mons, from his experiments in ringing different species 

 of fruit trees, has been led to the conclusion that it is calculated to 

 be of much more benefit to the pear than any other fruit. On 

 stone fruits, as the peach, &c., the wound caused by the neces- 

 sary removal of the bark, gives rise to an exudation of gum, and 

 the branch, in consequence, after, dies. From the comparative 

 facility, and abundance, too, with which these trees produce 

 flower-buds and fruity the effects which result from annular in- 

 cision are scarcely desirable. On the apple it appears to cause 

 the production of a great number of shoots between the wound 

 and the trunk of the tree, without scarcely at all increasing the 

 fruitfulness of the branch. 



The full effect of this operation, M. Van Mons believes, can 

 only be experienced by grafted varieties, or trees reared from 

 stocks which have already borne fruit. It appears to have but 

 little or no effect in forcing seedlings into a bearing state, before 

 the period of fruitfulness fixed by nature. Recent experiments 

 have also proved, that the annular incision, practised upon large 

 roots, influences the tree much more uniformly, and its effects 

 are much more durable, than when performed upon the branches. 



A. J. D. 



We commend the above article, by our correspondent, to the atten- 

 tion of our readers. The opez'ation of ringing fruit tiees is hut little 

 performed iu this country, and the principle u])on which it is jtractised 

 not generally understood. It may be, however, very beneficially made 

 use of to bring into a fruiting state trees, particularly pears, which 

 ordinarily would not for a very long period produce fruit, without 

 this operation was performed either upon the roots or the branches. 

 The French amateurs and gardeners, who are au fait in every thing 

 connected with the subject, practice the ringing of their fruit trees to a 

 great extent. — Cond. 



