North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Steve Herje <loneroc1@gmail.com>]

You might also want to search for 'trunk girdling' or 'stem constriction'.
When I used to grow out tons of magnolia seedlings, in the third year I'd
bind the trunk with insulated wire for a year or two.  The stem would
continue to expand and the resulting constriction interfered with sap flow.
It seemed to significantly shorten the time for slow maturing crosses to
flower.  I did not have a control group of seedlings so...

Steve H.  Lone Rock WI USDA zone 3