REPORT OF THE HORTICVWR!ST 29 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



INDIVIDUALITY IN APPLE TREES. 



Records are kept of the yields from each individual tree in the orchard at the 

 Central Experimental Farm, hence it is known what each tree produces. It has been 

 found that there is a marked variation in trees of the same age planted at the same 

 time and growing under very similar conditions. It is now recognized by some of the 

 best authorities that each bud of a tree has individual characteristics which separate 

 it from all other buds, and although the diflirences in buds are in most cases so slight 

 that it is impossible to detect them, yet in some instances they may be quite marked. 

 Fruit growers have noticed that one tree or bush is more productive than another or 

 bears larger, more highly coloured or better flavoured fruit than other trees of the 

 same variety, but few persons have recorded the yields from different trees, and little 

 definite information has been published on the subject. From the records at the 

 Central Experimental Farm published in the reports for 1903 and 1905, it is shown 

 that some trees have yielded from two to four times as much as others. Scions have 

 been taken from these trees and have been both top grafted and root grafted to learn 

 if this individuality is perpetuated, as it is important to learn if the tendency towards 

 heavy or light bearing is continued when scions are taken from these trees and 

 grafted. 



EVAPORATING APPLES. 



In 1896 an experiment was tried in evaporating apples, 46 varieties being used in 

 the test. A table was published of the varieties, showing the weight of apples when 

 pared and cored, weight when dried, length of time drying, percentage of water 

 evaporated, weight of dried product per bushel of 50 lbs., and notes were made on the 

 appearance and character of the product. _ 



STORING APPLES. 



Notes have been made on the relative keeping qualities of different varieties of 

 apples, but no extensive experiments have been made on account of not having a 

 proper place for storing the fruit. 



EXPERIMENTAL SHIPMENTS OF APPLES. 



Experimental shipments of apples were made to Great Britain from the experi- 

 mental farm in 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1905, sometimes with cold storage and sometimes 

 without. The results showed that apples will reach the other side of the Atlantic in 

 good order if properly picked, packed and shipped. Experiments in shipping fruit 

 in cold storage were also superintended by the horticulturist in 1894 and 1895. 



CULTURAL EXPERIMENTS WITH APPLES. 



It is impossible in a summary report of this kind to mention all the cultural ex- 

 periments which have been tried, but the following, with the results and conclusions, 

 seem among the most important: — 



Fall versus Spring Planting. — An experiment was tried in the autumn of 1887 

 for the purpose of comparing fall with spring planting of trees at Ottawa. The 

 results were unfavourable to fall planting, and experience during later years confirms 

 this. There appears to be three chief disadvantages of planting in the fall at Ottawa 

 or where the climate is similar. Trees planted in the autumn are not sufiiciently 

 charged with moisture to withstand the winter and are killed by drying out. Trees 

 planted in the autumn are more liable to sunscald the following spring than those 

 which are planted in the spring and have had a season's growth. Ti'ees planted in 

 the autumn are more likely to heave during the winter than if planted in the spring. 



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