% Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. i6l 



set more freely, the ring of bark should be taken off early 

 in the summer preceding the period at which blossoms are 

 required : but if the enlargement, and more early maturity 

 of the fruit be the object, the operation should be delayed 

 till the bark will readily part from the alburnum in the spring. 

 The breadth of the decorticated space, as Mr. Sabine has 

 justly observed, must be adapted to the size of the branch;* 

 but I have never witnessed any except injurious effects, 

 whenever the experiment has been made upon very small, 

 or very young branches; for such become debilitated, and 

 sickly, long before the fruit can acquire a proper state of 

 maturity. I have found a tight ligature, applied in the pre- 

 ceding summer, in such cases to answer, in a great measure, 

 all the purposes of ringing, with far less injurious conse- 

 quences to the tree ; and if such were applied to the stems, 

 or principal branches of Cherry trees, which are to be 

 forced very early in the following year, I believe the blos- 

 soms would be found to set more freely, and the fruit to 

 attain an early maturity. I have also succeeded in pre- 

 serving, to a great extent, the health of a ringed branch by 

 instantly covering the exposed surface of the alburnum with 

 a tight bandage of coarse thread coated with bees wax, if 

 the branch were small ; or of fine packthread, if it were 

 large; so as wholly to fill the space from which the bark 

 had been taken. By such means the desiccation and 

 consequent death of the external surface of the alburnum 

 have been prevented ; and I, consequently, think it not 

 improbable that the operation might be performed with 



* See page 124, of this volume. 

 VOL. IV. Y 



