186 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



! 



bunch with magnificent berries, each twice a« large 

 as the other. This was the case with every piece 

 of bearing wood in which one shoot had been 

 ringed and the other not. In the opinion of M. 

 Bourgeois, the following advantages belong to the 

 ringing system : A fortnight's earliuess, finer ber- 

 ries, and better quality. 



The operation consists simply in removing, when 

 the vine is about to flower, a ring of larh some- 

 thing less than half an inch icidejvst helow the in- 

 sertion of the hunch. As the shoot is eventually 

 destroyed by the operation, such shoots only should 

 be ringed as would have to be cut out at the next 

 yeai-'s pruning. 



At the exhibition of the K Y. State Ag. Society, 

 last year, by far the largest and best ripened bunch 

 of Isabellas was shown by a gentleman from Chau- 

 tauque county. They were truly magnificent. 

 The shoot on which they grew had been accident- 

 ally girdled below the bunch by the wire that fast- 

 ened it to the trellis. 



Ringing trees to promote fruitfuluess is no new 

 thing. Knight directed his attention to the sub- 

 ject for many years, and his remarks on the cause 

 of the phenomenon are worth quoting : 



" The true sap of trees is wholly generated in 

 their leaves, from which it descends through their 

 bark to the extremities of their roots, depositing in 

 ite course the matter which is successively added 

 to tlie tree, whilst whatever portion of such sap is 

 nnl thus expended, sinks into tlie alburnnm, and 

 joins the ascending current, to which it communi- 

 cates powers not possessed by the recently absorb- 

 «d fluid. When the course of the descending 

 current is intercepted, that naturally stagnates and 

 accumulates above the decorticated space ; whence 

 it is repulsed and carried upwards, to be expended 

 in an increased production of blossoms and of 

 fruit; and, consistently with these conclusions, I 

 Lave found that part of the alburnum which is 

 situated above the decorticated space to exceed in 

 specific gravity very considerably that which lies 

 below it. The repulsion of the descending fluid, 

 therefore accounts, I conceive, satisfactorily for the 

 increased production of blossoms, and more rapid 

 growth of the fruit upon the decorticated branch ; 

 but there are causes which operate in promoting 

 its more early maturity. The part of the branoli 

 whicli is below the decorticated space is ill supplied 

 with nutriment, and ceases almost to grow ; it in 

 conse(|uence operates less actively in impelling the 

 ascending current of sap, which must also be 

 impeded in its progress through the decorticated 

 space. The parts which are above it must, there- 

 fore, be less abundantly sui)plied with moisture, 

 and drouth in such CiV-^es always operates very 

 powerfully in accelerating maturity. When the 

 branch is small, or the space from which the bark 

 has been taken off is considerable, it almost always 

 operates in excess ; a morbid state of early matu- 

 rity is induced and the fruit is worthless. 



If this view of the cflecta of partial decortica- 

 tion, or ringing, be a just one, it follows that much 



of the success of the operation must be depend 

 upon the selection of proper seasons, and upon tl 

 mode of performing it being well adapted to tl 

 object of the operator. If that be the products 

 of blossoms, or the means of making the blossor 

 set more freely, the ring of bark should be tak 

 otf early in the summer preceding the period 

 wliicli blossoms are required ; but if the enlarg 

 ment and more early maturity of the fruit be t 

 objects, the o[>eration should bo delayed till t 

 bark will readily part from tho alburnum in t 

 spring. The breadth of the decorticated spa 

 must be adapted to tho size of the branch ; but 

 have never witnessed any except injurious efl'ec 

 whenever the experiment has been made up 

 very small or very young branches, for such I 

 come debilitated and sickly, long before the fn 

 can acquire a proper state of maturity." 



The latter part of this extract is at variance wi 

 the experience of M. Bourgeois ; but Mr, Knto 

 seems never to have experimented on the vi 

 On the whole, he seems to have preferred ligatu: 

 to ringing. He found a string drawn tightly ron 

 a branch to answer in a great measure all the pi 

 poses of ringing. M. Bourgeois, however, fix 

 that on the vine "ligatures do not answer near 

 well as rings." 



We hope pur readers will try ringing the vl 

 this summer, and report the results. 



GAS TAB FOK PEACH TEEES. 



