184 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



" The roots of the quince, on which dwarf pears 

 are grafted, can not furnish as large a supply of sap 

 as would be the case were the tree on its own 

 roots ; neither can the roots on the Paradise stock, 

 (a species of apple which naturally grows only 

 about the size of a bush,) on which dwarf apples 

 are grafted. The effect is precisely the same as if 

 a portion of the roots were cut off, or as if the 

 trees were planted on very poor soil." 



" Up to this point there is no difficulty — no con- 

 flict of principles or of facts. Checking the supply 

 of sap, or of food from the ground, throws the 

 tree into bearing. But after this another principle 

 comes into play. Our horticultural writers state 

 this principle in various forms. Anything, they 

 tell us, and tell us truly, which impedes the circu- 

 lation of sap in the branch of a tree, throws it into 

 fruitfulness. Barry says :" 



" If a tree is severely pruned immediately after 

 it has put forth its leaves, it receives such a check 

 as to be unable to produce a vigorous growth the 

 same season ; the sap is impeded in its circulation, 

 and the result is that a large number of the young 

 shoots that would have made vigorous wood 

 branches, had they not been checked, assume the 

 character of fruit spurs and branches." 



" And again, speaking of ' pruning to promote 

 fruitfulness,' he says:" 



" Those who have never practiced this, or ob- 

 served its results, may have seen, if experienced in 

 tree growing, that a shoot of which tlie point was 

 broken, bruised, or otherwise injured, during the 

 growing season, frequently becomes a fruit branch, 

 either during the same or the following season ; 

 and this, especially if situated in the interior of the 

 tree or on the older and lower parts of the 

 branches. The check given to the extension of 

 the shoot concentrates the sap in the part remain- 

 ing ; and, unless tlie check has been given very 

 early in the season, or the growth very vigorous in 

 the tree so that tlie buds will break and form 

 shoots, they are certain to prepnre for the produc- 

 tion of fruit. It is on this principle of checking 

 the growth, and concentrating the sap in the 

 pinched shoot, that pinching to induce fruitfulness 

 is performed; and its efilciency may be estimated 

 from tlie fact that trees on which it has been prac- 

 ticed have borne fruit four or five, and perhaps 

 seven years, sooner than they would have done 

 without it." 



*' There can be no doubt in regard to the facts 

 here stated ; but it seems to me there is a little 

 descrepancy somewhere in regard to the explana- 

 tion of them. In the one case, lessening the sup- 

 ply of food from the ground, or checking the 

 quantity of sap, induces fruitfulness. On the other 

 hand, 'concentrating the sap' — in other words, 

 increasing the quantity in a given space— also in- 

 duces fruitfulness." 



" I wish Mr. Baeby would favor us with a little 



more light on the subject. I have just been read- 

 ing his remarks on pinching, intending to put them 

 in practice on dwarf pear trees the present sum- 

 mer. Like every thing from his pen, they are very 

 clear and practical. He says : 



"Pinching is a sort of anticipated pruning, prac- 

 ticed upon the young growing shoots, intended to 

 promote a uniform circulation of the sap, and thus 

 regulate the growth, and also to induce fruitful- 

 ness. 



"In the management of trees, this is an opera- 

 tion of great importance, as it obviates the neces- 

 sity of heavy amputations being made at the win- 

 ter and spring pruning. Instead of allowing cer- 

 tain superfluous or misplaced shoots to acquire 

 their full development at the expense of other 

 parts, we pinch them early, and give to the neces- 

 sary parts, or branches of the tree, the nutriment 

 which they would have appropriated, if allowed to 

 remain. In this way we are able,to obtain results 

 in one season, that two or more would be required 

 for, if we depended wholly on the winter pruning. 

 We will suppose, for an example, the case of a 

 young nursery tree in the second year, intended 

 for a standard. In ordinary cases, the terminal 

 bud, either the natural one or that pruned to, is 

 developed into the leading shoot or stem, and a 

 greater or less number of buds below it produce 

 branches ; and it frequently happens that some of 

 these, if not pinched, acquire so much vigor as to 

 injure the leader and produce a consequent de- 

 formity in the tree. Fig. 1 represents a case 

 of this kind, which is very common, and too often 

 neglected. The shoots, a, o, ought to have been 

 pinched the moment they began to exhibit a dispo- 

 sition to outgrow the leader. There are other 

 cases still worse than this, familiar to all tree 

 growers: for instance, where a strong shoot is pro- 

 duced on the middle or lower part of the stem, at- 

 tracting an undue proportion of the sap, thus con- 

 tracting the growth of all other parts, and giving 

 the young tree a deformed character. All such 

 shoots as these should be nipped early, the mo- 

 ment their character is apparent, and thus a year's 

 growth nearly will be saved to the tree, and its 

 proper form and proportions be preserved. In 

 conducting young trees for pyramids, tiie constant 

 and careful appHcation of pinching is absolutely 

 necessary, for in them we must liave the lower 

 branches always the strongest and longest, and it 

 is only by operating on the shoots, in the earliest 

 stages of growth, that we can fully attain this end ; 

 tor the strongest shoots do not always grow at the 

 desired pointy but by timely attention they are per- 

 fectly within our control. The various accidents 

 and circumstances to which young trees are sub- 

 ject, give rise, in a multitude of cases, to an un- 

 equal distribution of tlie sap in their different parts, 

 aud this produces, to a greater or less extent, de- 

 formity of growth. This, at once, shows the ne- 

 cessity for pinching, to check the strong and favor 

 the weak." 



" The mode of performing the operation is simply 

 to pinch off the end of the shoot with the thumb 

 and finger. If a small i)ortion of the remaining 

 part is bruised, no natter — it affords a greater 



