QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



701 



that top bud will be even with surface of the ground. 

 They may be placed in a slanting position, which is 

 usually more convenient for the operator, especially if 

 the cuttings are rather long. Be sure and pack the soil 

 very firmly about the cuttings, as this is in fact the most 

 essential part of the work. It insures success while 

 neglect in this respect means certain failure. A light 

 covering of coarse litter or evergreen boughs will also be 

 serviceable, if not an absolute necessity. Grape cuttings 

 of the long-jointed varieties should be cut to two eyes, 

 leaving an inch or two of wood above the upper and be- 

 low the lower one. Cuttings of close-jointed sorts may 

 need three eyes. Tie the cuttings in bundles of twenty- 

 five or fifty, and bury in sand or sawdust in the cellar, or 

 in a well drained spot out-doors ; sandy loam preferred. 

 In spring they should be well calloused over, and ready 

 for emitting roots as soon as planted out. Sometimes 

 special treatment is given them for facilitating the cal- 

 lousing, such as putting in hot-bed, or in cold frame with 

 butt ends up, and covered with a layer of dry leaves- 

 The general directions about planting given in regard to 

 currant cuttings, apply also to grape cuttings, except 

 that the latter should be planted in spring rather than 

 fall. — G. R. 



2635. Promoting Fruitfulness of Young Fruit 

 Trees. Excessive growth of wood is always antagonis- 

 tic to fruit production. We have seen apple orchards 

 of fine, thrifty trees that produced almost no fruit for 

 the first twenty years. After that the ground was kept 

 in grass, and the trees bore heavily, at least in alter- 

 nate years. If we have patience enough, the excessive 

 wood growth will cease, and fruit production begin. Of 

 course, we do not always wish to wait for this natural 

 turn of alfairs. Root pruning in such case is the most 

 natural method of hurrying up the fruiting. It checks 

 growth very effectively, and throws the energies of the 

 trees into fruit production. A striking instance of the 

 effectiveness of root pruning came under our observa- 

 tion some years ago. Two thrifty Talman Sweet trees, 

 about fifteen years old, were standing about thirty feet 

 apart. Neither of them had ever borne more than a few 

 specimens of fruit. One summer a gale partly tore up 

 one tree, leaving it in a slanting position with most of 

 the roots on the side towards the wind badly torn and 

 mutilated. The next two years this tree bore an im- 

 mense crop of apples, while the other tree had but a few. 

 This method of root pruning is just as violent and un- 

 natural as the artificial one which calls for the services of 



spade and axe. Tearing up some of the upper roots by 

 deep plowing sometimes answers first rate. A more 

 methodical way is by digging a trench on one or two 

 sides of the tree, or perhaps in a circle around it, at 

 a distance of from three to si.x feet from the stem, ac- 

 cording to the size of the tree, and cutting the roots that 

 are encountered. If some good manure, bones or simi- 

 lar fertilizing material is thrown into this ditch before 

 filling it up again, all the better. This work should be 

 done in summer or early fall, and will then result in a 

 check to the wood growth, in the formation of fruit buds, 

 and consequently in a full crop the year following. We 

 should not expect to see immediate effects upon fruit 

 production from root pruning in the spring, no matter 

 how early it is done. Another and really a more natural 

 method of inducing fruitfulness is by bending or twist- 

 ing the branches. This puts a check on the rapid move- 

 ment of the sap to the top, and results in the formation 

 of fruit spurs and fruit buds. This method has been de- 

 veloped into quite an art in gardens near Paris, France. 

 Training branches of dwarf trees in spiral form is a fa- 

 vorite way of making them bear fruit, and producing 

 large specimens for show purposes. One of the simplest 

 of all methods is weighting the ends of limbs by sus- 

 pended stones, bricks and similar heavy articles. 

 Ringing of the branches is also practiced in some cases 

 for the purpose of bringing tardy fruit trees into bear- 

 ing, and still more generally with a view of hastening 

 the ripening process of fruit. Among grape growers it 

 is not an uncommon practice. The opinions about its 

 utility, however, are greatly at variance. Some good 

 horticulturists are strongly in favor of it even in com- 

 mercial fruit growing ; others are as strongly opposed to 

 it as an unnatural proceeding ; some say it hastens ma- 

 turity ; others claim it retards it. While it is pretty cer- 

 tain that in the case of grapes ringing can have no 

 permanent injurious eflTects, that it increases the fruit in 

 size and perhaps makes it earlier without being detri- 

 mental to its quality, we would not advocate the ringing 

 method for fruit trees. Seeding the ground to grass, 

 bending the branches, and rcot pruning ate so eflective 

 methods of bringing tardy trees into fruiting, that we 

 see no reason for resorting to harsher means.— G. R. 



2654. Stocks for Plums on Clay Soil. We would 

 in all circumstances prefer plum to peach stocks as 

 a foundation for plums and apricots, especially since the 

 Marianna plum, one of the best of stocks for the pur- 

 pose, can be had easily from cuttings. — G. R. 



