292. Report oF THE HorTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
parts below the ring. When the bark is removed the outer 
layers of wood dry out very quickly and because of this the up- 
ward flow of sap is also checked somewhat through evaporation 
from the exposed woody cylinder. 
Ringing is unnatural and while it may favor some organs of a 
plant must be harmful to the plant as an individual. It could 
be of value with herbaceous plants in the ways that have been 
enumerated only as an exceptional treatment to secure some 
particular end and in cases where the plant or branch could be 
sacrificed for the current season’s product. 
The experiments recorded here have had to do with ringing 
only. There are other means of securing the ends attained in 
ringing woody plants and they are worth trying with herbaceous 
plants, especially as most of them are less harmful to, the plant 
than ringing. Thus the bending of shoots causes uneven dis- 
tribution of the elaborated plant food whereby some parts of the 
plant are favored; so, too, twisting, whereby the bark is loosened 
from the wood, causes a diminution of the upward flow of raw 
material and supplies the buds above the twist with more than 
their natural amount; notching and peeling the stems are similar 
operations used on woody plants but not adapted to most her- 
baceous plants. 
RINGING TOMATOES. 
A test of the value of ringing tomatoes was made in the Sta- 
tion greenhouses during the winter of 1905-’06. The experiment 
was in the hands of O. M. Taylor, Foreman in Horticulture, who 
gave every detail of the experiment close attention. The experi- 
ment was carried through under the most favorable circum- 
stances, the plants being extra fine and all conditions normal. 
The plants—The variety grown was the Lorillard, one of the 
best forcing sorts. The seeds were sown in small boxes Au- 
gust 1. The young plants were pricked out into two-inch pots 
August 16, and were shifted into four-inch pots September I. 
The plants were benched September 16. A selection for the ex- 
periment was made from several hundred plants, using only 
those of uniform size and vigor. Two rows were set in each 
bench with the rows two and a half feet. apart. The plants were 
two feet apart in the row, with spaces alternating. 
Soil The soil used consisted of a mixture of three parts rotted 
sod, one part sand, and one part compost. This mixture con- 
