1908] Influences Affecting Seed Production 193 



order to produce a good crop of seeds must have abundant foliage 

 the previous year. It is our belief that when shrubs and trees 

 have accumulated a certain amount of this elaborated sap they . 

 are induced in nature to bear fruit, but just what proportion of 

 such sap it is necessary for each tree to have is not known. What 

 is known, however, is that certain methods of cultivating fruits 

 will induce fruitfulness. Most fruits require bright sunshine 

 for the development of fruit buds, but with the sunshine there 

 must be an abundant supply of leaves to convert the crude sap 

 into the elaborated form. 



There are many examples showing that when a certain 

 proportion of elaborated sap is in the branches of trees, that fruit 

 production will follow. If a branch of a tree is injured in some 

 way so that the flow of elaborated sap downward is checked it 

 accumulates in the branch above, and that branch having more 

 than its proportion develops fruit buds. When the roots of a 

 tree are severely pruned and the flow of sap downward and into 

 them is checked the top has a larger proportion of elaborated 

 sap than is necessary for the development of leaves merelv and 

 it develops fruit buds. A spell of dry weather at the right time 

 in summer will probably induce the production of fruit buds as 

 growth is checked and there is a larger proportion of elaborated 

 sap available than there would otherwise be. When one variety 

 of fruit is grafted on another the sap at the point of union is 

 more or less checked in its downward course and the top retains 

 a larger proportion of elaborated sap than it needs for its healthy 

 development and fruit "buds are produced before thev would be if 

 the tree were grown as a standard tree. Some plants and some 

 varieties take longer to come into bearing than others, but what 

 the vital principle is which governs this is not known, but it is 

 evident that just as soon as there is a surplus of elaborated sap 

 then fruitfulness is induced, hence methods of cultivation should 

 be adopted which are known to induce fruitfulness. 



Plant Food and Tillage. ^l^he relation of the supply of 

 plant food to fruit and seed production should be, and is, of 

 the greatest interest to fruit growers. Plant food, however, is 

 of little value unless there is moisture and heat. Some kinds of 

 fruit require more moisture than others, and some more heat- 

 It has been already explained that the place of origin of the 

 original type may have much to do with the kind of soil that they 

 will do best in. 



While there is vigorous growth there is usually little seed 

 production. Herbaceous plants, as a rule, have made most of 

 their growth before they bloom. Woodv plants also have made 

 their strongest growth before they begin to fruit. An excess of a 



