4G(i Report of the Department of Horticulture of the 



in late summer when seeds are making great demands for food. 

 In such cases the trees become exhausted and cast a part of their 

 load. If at this time there be a drought, or, on the other hand, 

 too much rain, as is often the case, fruit not infrequently drops 

 in considerable quantities. 



It seems worth while with trees which habitually drop their 

 crop to try to direct the food to the fruit-bearing branches by 

 priming out surplus wood, cutting out water-sprouts, and stimu- 

 lating the growth of fruit buds the previous season. All factors 

 which are conducive to the best nutrition of the tree influence 

 its capacity to retain the crop. 



Fruits often fall because of insect or fungus injury to tree 

 or fruit. The effects of serious injury to the foliage or the punc- 

 turing of the fruit by any one of the innumerable insect pests 

 are too well known to demand attention, though insect injury must 

 by no means be thought to be a sure cause of the dropping of a 

 crop. Some insects, as coddling-moth, curculio, and the berry 

 worms may remain until the fruit is fully developed. 



Lastly, it may be of distinct advantage for a tree to drop a 

 part of its load if it have more fruit than it can bring to the 

 best maturity. If it does not do so naturally, the fruit grower 

 should take the matter in hand and thin the crop. 



The weather, as we have indicated in a previous paragraph, has 

 much to do with the setting and dropping of fruit. A study of 

 the weather as it affects the formation and development of fruit 

 buds was made at this Station several years ago covering a period 

 of twenty-five years beginning in 1881'. Since the report of this 

 study can no longer be had the main conclusions are again pub- 

 lished here. 



During this twenty-five-year period late frosts ruined the fruit 

 crops in western Xcw York in four years, seriously lessened the 

 yield in five years, and did much damage to pears, peaches and 

 plums in three other seasons. That is to say, in more than half 

 of the twenty-five years, " unseasonable " frosts caused serious 

 loss to fruit growers over the section as a whole. The years of 

 frosts appeared in cycles, as there was but one harmful frost dur- 

 ing the first eight years of the twenty-five, then for six years in 

 succession the crops were damaged seriously, while during the 

 latter half of fhe period the frosts were more evenly distributed. 



lU. P. Hedrick. Bui. 200 of this Station. Mch. 1908. 



