79 



It will be admitted that examples can be found where the same crop 

 has succeeded measurably well on the same soil for a series of years, 

 but close observation and accurate comparisons will show that such 

 instances are rare indeed ; but even the successes have not enabled us 

 to remedy the failures, and it seems probable that the causes have not 

 been fully explained. 



EXPEDIENTS FOR PROMOTING FRUITFULNESS IN PLANTS. 



All expedients for inducing early fruiting are founded upon the well- 

 known law that excessive growth and great prolificness can not simul- 

 taneously exist in the same plant. Some of the most familiar modes of 

 inducing fruit are as under: 



BY DWARFING. 



In horticultural parlance, trees are said to be dwarfed when grafted 

 or budded on stocks of weaker growth than themselves. Thus we have 

 the pear on the quince, the cherry ou the mahaleb, the apple on the 

 Paradise stock, the peach on the plum, etc. This is a popular and effi- 

 cient mode of rendering trees fruitful. Properly speaking, any low 

 tree is dwarf; the term when applied to a system is merely technical. 



BY BENDING THE BRANCHES. 



This process practically consists in allowing the branches of a young 

 tree to grow undisturbed by the pruning knife for several years until 

 the plant attains considerable size ; the young shoots are then bent 

 down and secured to pegs fastened in the ground. This mode is emi- 

 nently adapted for standard pear trees, especially such varieties as 

 Dix, Bartlett, Sheldon, and others that make long yearly shoots. These 

 when bent down soon become studded thickly with blossom spurs, and 

 very ornamental and symmetrical trees can be formed by a little atten- 

 tion to the bending and regulating the shoots ; the pendent form soon 

 becomes fixed, and trees so treated are certain to be productive, The 

 proper season to commence tying down is the month of August; the 

 young wood will then be sufficiently matured to bend, and many of the 

 most forward buds will form short fruit spurs, and bloom the following 

 spring. Trees and plants of all kinds can be incited to flower and fruit, 

 no matter how luxuriant their growth, by careful observance of the 

 bending process. Horizontal training is a modification of this system, 

 and is a well-known method of encouraging fruitfuluess. 



BY PRUNING THE ROOTS. 



When a tree has reached a fruit-bearing size, and shows no symptoms 

 of a fruit-bearing disposition, but instead throws out vigorous branches, 

 root-pruning is a very efficacious mode of checking growth. In highly 

 cultivated gardens, where trees are planted and the roots have access 

 to the rich soil, an immense crop of branches will be produced, but 



