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["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

The mention of keeping the axe handy for the fireblight prone tree reminded
me of something Lucky might want to try on his greengage.  I think this
story comes from Mexico, couldn't swear by it. When the owners are fed up
with a tree that is slow to bear, they hang menstrual rags on it, to shame
it for not "getting pregnant".  ( I am sure the neighbors all snicker every
time they pass the tree)  If that doesn't work, they stage a dramatic scene
for the tree's benefit.  One family member begins shouting about how he's
going to cut down that worthless non-bearing tree.  He goes out with an axe,
and just as he is about to begin chopping, someone else runs up and begs him
to spare the tree for another year.  They insist that the tree will surely
bear next year, and that they will be personably responsible for the tree
till then.  The axe holder finally gives in, but swears loudly that he will
cut it down next year for sure if it doesn't crop.
    If trees can indeed sense menace and danger, as proved by Cleve
Backster, the lie detector expert who wired up his plants, then maybe the
scene will "shock it out of a years growth", as excess vigor is often the
cause of late bearing.  I guess even if doesn't affect the trees behavior,
these traditions both delay the axe and give the impatient owners some
emotional satisfaction.   After all, if you have waited 10 years and have a
nice big tree, it seems silly to chop it down and start over with another
tree.  Donna
P.S.  Lucky, I suppose you have considered ringing it?  What are the chances
of something getting in the wound if he does, like Blackknot?