Crescendi

Short crescendi and diminuendi are generally produced by natural dynamic means; when prolonged, they are obtained by this method combined with other orchestral devices. […] Prolonged orchestral crescendi are obtained by the gradual addition of other instruments in the following order: strings, wood-wind, brass.

Wrong crescendi, which should be avoided, tend to appear at the end of passages ascending to the apex of melodies[.]

Furthermore, organ builders were at liberty to construct their register crescendi so that stops entered either one at a time or in groups of two or more. […] Of course, a sensitive organist would not rely wholly or even predominantly upon a register crescendo to effect stop changes, particularly when those changes had more to do with simple manipulation of tone color than with progressive crescendi.