8 



wood, leaving a few nodes from which the leaves had not fallen. 

 From these nodes blossoms developed profusely, no blossoms appear- 

 ing on untreated branches. To secure best results, the pruning 

 should be done in the late summer or fall, several months before 

 the blossoming time. This method should be employed on branches 

 which are too low or too crowded or on those which would have to 

 be removed later to improve the shape of the tree, as after a branch 

 is pruned, it makes little growth for several weeks or months or 

 even for a year or more after the fruit ripens, and by this time it 

 may be well overgrown by surrounding branches. 



As good results have been obtained from- girdling as from other 

 methods. A branch 1 to 3 inches in diameter was selected on each 

 of a number of trees and a band of bark removed in September. 

 These branches produced good crops in the following spring, even 

 when no fruits at all were borne on the remainder of the tree. Such 

 favorable results, however, were obtained on varieties which are 

 inclined to bear well and where the band of bark removed was wide 

 enough to prevent the new bark from growing over the area too 

 rapidly. Bands one-eighth and even one-quarter of an inch in 

 diameter were overgrown so quickly that no effect was seen on the 

 branch. Bands from one-half to three-quarters of an inch produce 

 the best results, as they do not heal over until after the blossoming 

 season, the callus growing downward over the wound at the rate of 

 1 inch a year. The photograph in Plate II, figure 1, was taken in 

 April and shows a branch of Paheri, from which a band of bark 

 1£ inches in width was taken in September. This branch bore 39 

 fruits of extra large size and was the only branch of the tree to bear. 

 The effect on Cambodiana, Bennett, and Amini was equally striking. 

 Girdling the branches of 10-year-old trees of Davy's and Madras, 

 varieties which have so far been very unproductive, some of the 

 trees having never borne, did not induce fruiting. As removing 

 enough bark to induce fruiting is very injurious to the branch, this 

 practice is most profitably employed on undesirable branches which 

 are to be removed later. 



Root pruning has been recommended, although no definite results 

 have been noted from experiments with it. It is best accomplished 

 by cutting into the soil with a sharp spade about 2 feet inside the 

 tips of the branches. In extreme cases the cutting may encircle the 

 tree to a depth of 8 to 10 inches in heavy soil and even deeper in 

 light soil where the root system is considerably below the surface. 

 Cutting at such intervals as to sever the roots for one-half to two- 

 thirds of the distance around the tree will induce blossoming under 

 normal conditions without seriously checking the growth or thrift 

 of the tree. 



