THE FRUITING OF TREES 133 



heavily, with the object of destroying this tendency, and of 

 obtaining moderate and more uniform bearing in future 

 years. 



One observation which lends some support to such a view is 

 that the prevention of a young tree from bearing for a year or 

 two after it is capable of doing so, results in its subsequently 

 bearing very heavy crops. From some apple trees of a precocious 

 variety which had been disblossomed for two years longer than 

 their fellows, the crops obtained during the succeeding five years 

 were, on the average, 3-3 times as heavy as those from their 

 neighbours; after which time their superiority disappeared 

 (XV, 3). It may be argued, however, that the delaying of the 

 first coming into bearing of a young tree is not altogether com- 

 parable with the restriction of the crop of a tree which is already 

 in bearing. 



The difficulties in obtaining exact measurements of the relative 

 behaviour of any two or more trees in consecutive seasons are 

 considerable. The weight of fruit or the number of fruits may 

 be recorded, but, unless the trees are absolutely similar in size, 

 disposition of branches, situation, etc., which is impossible, the 

 superiority of the one over the other as regards inherent fruiting 

 capabilities may be misleading. On the other hand, the trees 

 under observation may be classified by inspection, grouping them 

 according to the extent which they are loaded with fruit, indepen- 

 dent of their size, and then comparing the classification in one 

 year with that in the following year. This method avoids errors 

 due to differences in the size of the trees, but it has the dis- 

 advantage of being based on the judgment of the observer, and 

 not on actual weights. This latter method was adopted in the 

 case of one series of observations on trees at Harpenden, and the 

 former in the case of the other series on trees at Ridgmont. 



Whichever method of observation was adopted, the results 

 were treated as follows : two selected trees were numbered I or 2, 

 according to which of them bore the heavier crop in any particular 

 season ; then, comparing the results in two consecutive seasons, 

 if the order of fruiting had been the same (consecutive fruiting), 

 the difference between the numbers given to the trees would be o, 

 if the order had been reversed (alternate fruiting) the difference 

 would be i ; whereas if neither consecutive nor alternate fruiting 

 prevailed, and the results were dependent solely on chance or on 

 external conditions, the differences would, on the average, be 

 0-5. An average difference, for instance, of 075 would be half- 

 way between I and 0-5, indicating that the results were dependent 



