30 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



stamens of the flower, or the ripening fruit, will destroy^ or else very 

 greatly impair, the quality of the fruit. Tliese causes of unproduction 

 are, for the most part, irremediable ; we cannot fight against nature, 

 or so alter the courses of the stars. 



But there are other causes of barrenness which may be remediable, 

 and others still which, if determinable, may be brought under the same 

 category, and this is the object of our discussion. 



1. To begin with, it must be conceded that both Mr. Downing and 

 Mr. Lincoln are right when they attribute a considerable proportion of 

 a growing increase of non-production to the exhausting of certain 

 chemical or mineral components of the soil. Leaves and wood derive 

 their constituents chiefly from the atmosphere and from water, — not so 

 with flowers and fruit, — these tenderest parts must have more solid 

 nutriment, just as the more solid twigs and branches come from the 

 lighter and more tenuous chemical elements. The phosphorus and 

 nitrogen and lime and potash which have been depleted must be sup- 

 plied. The soil must be stirred that it may absorb oxygen, ammouia- 

 cal gases, and the water which carries them all in solution. The 

 success of Florida and California fruit-growing has been considerably 

 due to the fact that this culture has been the chief, I might say, the 

 only business of those who engage in it. Here at the East, it is gen- 

 erally a side-show, or, at best, a partial occupation. Nurseries are 

 cultivated and so are young trees for a half-dozen years, then there is, 

 just so soon as the trees begin to bear, a cessation of cultivation of 

 the soil. With neglect, there is a steady waning of production and, 

 what is more important, deterioration of the quality of fruit. Even in 

 California there is beginning of complaint on both scores. At River- 

 side, both packers and growers agree that the oranges are not so good 

 as they used to be, even in the best years, and that they are not sure 

 that they know what changes of their methods ai'e desirable : whether 

 nitrogen introduced by Chilian nitrates is needful, as Professor 

 Hilgard suggested, or whether they are irrigating too heavily, or prun- 

 ing too little. 



2. The second cause of non-uniform production of fruit is undoubt- 

 edly overbearing in years when all the conditions for fruiting are 

 favorable. The tree which has carried a breaking or a bending burden 

 is like a man who has strained the muscles of his back, or the tendons 

 of his limbs. Months and even years may be required for recovery, 

 there may be needful an entirely new growth of wood before there can 

 be any considerable recurrence of fruitage. 



Two remedies have been suggested and, to some extent, applied in 



