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700 A R T O F G A R D EN IN G . P a r t I I I .
S e c t. IV. Operations for inducing a State o f Fruitfulness in barren and unblossoming
Trees and Plants.
2599. Various means have heen tried to induce fruitfulness, witli different degrees of
success. Almost every description of fruit-tree, if planted in a thin stratum of rich loam
on a dry and impervious subsoil, will come into bcai’ing in régulai- course, according to
its natm-e.; but it too fi-c([ucntly happens that the stratum of soil is too deep, or the roots
penetrate into the subsoil, or by some means, not always obvious, acquire the power of
throwing much superfluous sap into the tree, which tlien spends itself in leaves and
branches, instead of blossoms. Similar circumstances produce similar effects in ornamental
trees and shrubs, whether in the open aii-, or in artificial climates. Attempts arc
known to have been made, for upwai-ds of a century and a half, to cause such trees to
produce blossoms, attended with diflercnt degrees of success ; but the practice was carried
on cmpii-ically, without any knowledge of the reason or principle which operated in
producing tho desired end, till its true rationale was pointed out by Liebig ; viz. that the
roots absorb the greater part of tlieir carbon from the air ; and that when the roots arc
deprived of access to the air, the trees will not produce cither fruit or blossoms.
2600. Laying hare the roots o f trees is mentioned by Evelyn as conducive to fertility ;
transplanting the tree frequently, by Van Ostcn ; and in both cases tho roots obtain access
to the ail-. Evci-y ono must have observed that trees partially blown out of the ground,
or with the earth washed or otherwise removed from thcir roots in banks or river-sidcs,
or with theh- tnmks or roots broken, bent, or mutilated in any way, are always more
fruitful than others ; and tliis not being rightly understood, has, we conceive, suggested
the various modes of ai-tificial mutilation which were formerly practised, and of the
principle of which a short account is given below.
2601. C utting the roots o f trees is an old practice, generally performed in winter or spring, but some-
times in summer. In th e beginning of July, 1811, Beattie, gardener a t Scone, had a border on the
south wall, 400ft. long, trenched to the depth of from 2^11. to 3 ft.: in doing this, he had the
opportunity of cutting th e roots of all the trees, as the work went on, which he did so completely,
th at they might be said to hang by the nails and shreds, with a ball of earth of about 2 ft. from the
stem of each tree . Beattie says, he acted on th e principle of depriving th e tree of th e means of containing
such a great quantity of sap ; thereby preventing it from growing so much to wood, and of
course inclining it to become fruitful. (Caled. M em ., vol. i. 272.) Nicol suggests th e same expedient,
in his F orc ing a n d F r u it Ga rd en e r, 4tli edit. p. 240.
2602. C u ttin g notches in tlio stem or branches has been tried on many occasions, on the same principle
as cutting the roots.
2603. P a r tia l decortication is tho removal of the bark already scaling off, covered with mosses and
lichens, or carbonised by the action of the atmosphere. It is only applicable to old trees, or trees of a
certain age; and the effect is, to increase the vigour of the tree, and chus promote th e production of
young wood and blossom-buds. It was recommended by Arnaud cl’Andilly, in 1650, and has been
practised,for several years, by Forsyth, Lyon, and various others, on standard tre e s ; and by King, a
commercial gardener, a t Teddington, on th e vine.
2604. S tr ip p in g o f f pieces o f the b a r k from th e stem and branches is said by Marshall to check the
luxuriance, and promote the fruitfulness, of pear-trees. (In tro d . to G a rd ., &c. 4th edit. p. 156.)
2605. R in g in g the stem a n d branches, or excision, &c.,was known to the Homans, and is mentioned by
Virgil, Columella, &c. Among the moderns, it seems to have been revived by Du Hamel in the
beginning of the eighteenth century, more especially in 1733, when he perfectly succeeded in rendering
trees fruitful, and has given an account of his experiments in the M émoire s dc VAcademic des Sciences,
for 1788. The subject has since been taken up by Suriray Delarue, and by Lan c ry ; the former of
whom has given an excellent history ancl ra tiona leof the practice, in the J o u r n a l Physico-OEconomique.
for 1803. It is also ably treated in th e Cours Complet d ’A g r icu ltu r e , &c., a rt. B o u r r e le t. T h e effect
of ringing has been perfectly well known and acted on in Holland and Germany since Du Hamel’s
time, as any one may be assured of by th e perusal of the works of Christ, Diederich, and Diel ; and it is
remarkable that, so late as 1815, A. flempel, a clcrgjTnan of Saxony, should have published an account
of his practice in ringing, as new. The use of ringing would be, in all probability, introduced into Eng-
land soon after D u Hamel’s experiments were published ; but though it has been known and occasionally
practised by some gardeners for upwards of half a century, it seems not to have been generally known,
either in 1817, when, judging from a paper of D r. Ndhden’s, th e subject was considered new b y th e Horticultural
Society ; or in th e end of the last century, when D r. Darwin, in his Notes to P h y tologia, vol. i.
p. 393., describes the practice, and accounts for its effects. It is now frequentlypractised, both for the p u rpose
of inducing blossoms on trees, or rendering them productive; and for accelerating the maturity and
increasing the size of fruits. T h e former has been termed production-ringing, and th e latter m aturation-
ringing. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. iv. p. 557.) Production-ringing should be performed in th e spring, and will
produce its effects in the following yea r; maturation-ringing when tho plants are in blossom, aud it
will show its effects the same season.
2606. M a tu ra tio n -r in g in g . Hinging has been found n o t only to induce blossom-buds, but, where these
prove fertile, to increase the size and accelerate th e ripening of fruits. In a paper read before the Horticultural
Society in 1808, W illiams, of Pitmaston, de.scribcsamodoof making annular excisions in th e bark
of vines. These were made ra the r less than a quarter of an inch in width, that the exposed wood might
be covered again with bark by the end of autumn. “ Two vinos of tho white Frontiniac, in similar states
of growth, being trained near to each other on a south w-all, were selected for tria l; one of these was
experimented on (if 1 may use the term) ; the other was left in its natural state, to form a standard of comparison.
When tlie circle of barkffiad been removed about a fortnight, th e berries on the exjierimented
tree began evidently to swell faster than those on the other, and by the beginning of September showed
indications of approaching ripeness ; while the fruit of the- unexperimented tree continued green and
small. In th e beginning of October, the fruit on the tree that had the bark removed from it was quite
ripe ; th e other only just began to show a disposition to ripen ; for the bunches were shortly afterwards
destroyed by the autumnal frosts. In every case in which circles of bark were removed, I invariably
found that the fruit not only ripened earlier, but the berries were considerably larger than usual, and more
highly flavoured. T h e effects thus produced, I can account for only by adopting Knight’s theory of the
downward circulation of the sap through th e bark. It is not of mucli consequence in what part of the
tree the incision is made; but m case the trunk is very Urge, I should then recommend th at th e circles
be made in the smaller branches.”
B o o k II. INDUCING FRUITFUT.NESS. 701
2607. The ope ration o f m a tu ra tio n - r in g in g sliould be deferred till th e flowers are fully expanded, or
rather till they arc passing into fruit, or even till the fruit is sot. The sap, being interrupted in its descent
by the annular incision, is held in the bough, and thus the fruit gains a m ore ready ancl uninterrupted
supply of nourishment; tho consequence of which is not only an increase of size, but earlier maturity.
This operation, besides, may be serviceable in ripening the seeds of plants, which otherwise would not bo
perfected; for as th e fruit is sooner ripened, so the seeds will likewise be sooner matured. When the
influence of ringing is limited to three or four months, as in the case of m aturation-ringing, it is obvious
that the ring need not be so broad as when it is to be extended to a longer p e rio d ; from which it follows
that maturation-ringing, as it keeps th e bark separated for a shorter period, will do less injury to the
health o fth e branch than the other mode. (H o r t. T ra n s ., vol. iv. p. 5:)7.)
2608. R in g in g is said to fo r c e y o u n g trees to show blossoms. Hempel states, as a consequence resulting
from ringing, th at you m a y fo r c e y o u n g trees to show f r u i t before they otherwise would do. T h at ring-
ing may have some effect in this way, we think highly probable; but by no means so much as is ascribed
to it by Hempel. Trees must arrive at their age of puberty, like animals, before they can propagate their
species. Abundance of food and heat will, no doubt, induce a degree of precocity in the subjects of both
kingdoms; and, as ringing gives in effect abundance of food to the particular part above the excision, it
must have some effect, but it has not been proved to have much. Ringing will produce blossoms in all
■ ■ ■ ■ otherwise than from seed, a t
plants, herbaceous and shrubby, propagated^by extension, that is, original
a n y age ; but its effects on young trees raised from seed, or in causing blossoms on any description ion of tree
to set, arc much less c e rtain ; though, in all cases where they do set, the size of the fruit wil be '
greatly
enlarged for the first year or two.
20Ü9. I n p e r fo rm in g the operation o f rin g in g , a ring of outer and inner bark, not larger than the tree
can lill up m stone-fruit in one, and in kenicl-fruit in two, or a t most three years, is cut clean out with a
knife, or the ringing shears (//g. 390.). If larger, th e tree becomes too rnucii excited to fruitfulness, and
the part of it separated from the root bv th e ring dies, while the stem and parts adjoining the root become
too luxuriant. When the rings arc made so wide as that the barks cannot unite for two or throe years,
the result, says the author of the article B o u r r e le t, in N . C. d 'A g r ic u ltu r e , &c., will be to “ accelerate the
productionof blossoms, and tho setting of fruit, and to augment their size during the first yea r; and then,
during the following years, to make them languish, and a t last die.” ” There is a pear tree,” Sabine observes,
“ against one of the walls in the kitchen-garden, belonging to his majesty, at Kew, which underwent
th e operation of ringing about fifteen years ago. The part operated on was near the root: and, as
it was a principal arm, about one half of the whole tree became influenced by the operation. This half has
uniformly borne fruit, the other half has been nearly barren. The portion of stem which was laid bare
is about 6 in. wide, and it has not been again covered by bark. T h at part ju st above th e ring is considerably
larger than th e part below it. The ends of tlie branches appear in much decay, and there are
b u t v, er-y few y*i o/u. n..g.. s.hoots thrown out from the sides ; whilst, on the other part of the tree, the shoots, as usual, proceed from th1. e. e xt._r_e_m_it_i_e_s_, _a_s_ w_„e1l1l „a..s Xfro*m. . t„h{e Jsi.d.e„s of the main bbrraann c'h es. ”I appre.h end. , f-rom
tho present appearance of th e whole, th a t th e portion of the tree which, by the separation of the bark,
has been deprived in a great measure of supply from the root, cannot survive many years.”
2610. R e new a l o f the soil about fru it-tre e s has been found by Hay, of Newliston,
near Edinburgh, in the case of peaches, and Maher, of Ai-undel, in the case of figs,
and by various others, to renew the fi-uitftilncss of trees. There ai-e two reasons given
for this, both of which arc concerned in the clFect; the first is, the exliaustion of the soil
generally; and the second is, its exhaustion of the pai-ticular sort of food prcfen’cd
by the kind of tree.
2611. B end ing down the branches has been found conducive to fruitfulness; and is
accounted for on the same principle as ringing. It has been well exemplified by
Maher ( H o r t T ra n s ., vol. i.), in fixing clay balls to the extremities of the shoots of young
apple trees after midsnramer, which, depressing them, stagnated the sap, and induced the
production of abundance of flowcr-buds.
2612. T o induce the production o f blossoms in herbaceous p lan ts, any or all of the above
modes may be adopted with most species; but, on a large scale, the first object is to place
the plants in a soil neither too poor nor too rich. A dry soil, not deep, and resting on a
dry firm bottom, is most favourable to fruitfulness, especially when joined to abundance
of ail- and light. In perennials, the effect can only be produced the second ycai-, as in
trees; but in annuals, it will be immediate: in the former class, however, where the
defect is want of nourishment, the effect may take place even the first yeai-. Knight
induced the production of blossoms on an early variety of potato, by depriving the plant
of its tubers, as soon as they made thcii- appearance; by which means, the nourisbment
which would have been devoted to their cniargemcnt was employed by the plant in the
production of blossoms, as the remaining mode which it had of propagating its species.
The reverse of the practice is found proportionally to increase the bulk of the tubers, and
has become an important point of practice in potato culture. The Dutcli, as Dai-wiu
infoi-ms us, were the first to adopt this mode in the culture of bulbous-rooted flowers.
In general, it may be stated, that the art of producing blossoms in perennial herbaceous
plants consists in permitting them to have abundance of leaves, fully exposed to the light
and ail- the preceding ycai’; and in not cutting them over when in a state of growth, as is
too frequently done, but in letting them first begin to decay. By this means, healthy
vigorous buds and roots arc prepared for exertion the following year.
2613. G eneral esiimate o f these practices. All these operations may, for a short time,
be attended with success as far as the production of fruit goes, but they arc sure in the
end to proi'c destructive to ’ the tree. The only permanent and general modes of producing
fmitfulness in frait-trees are, supplying the tree with suitable soil; inducing the
roots to rise to the surface, so that they may be enabled to imbibe carbonic acid from the
air; and judicious pruning. By attending to these particulars, fruit-trees may be made
to produce as much fruit as they have strength to ripen; and any attempt to make
them do more cannot fail to produce a lasting injury for the sake of a transient, or, at
least, temporary advantage.