3^4 liBPORT OF THE HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THBJ 



There was very little fruit produced on any of the Pumpkin 

 Sweet trees whether they were sprayed in bloom or not. The 

 Baldwins produced considerable fruit, but not a good crop. 



SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF THE TESTS OF THE DFFE€T OF SPRAY 

 MIXTURES ON APPLE BLOSSOMS. 



In the orchards where trees were sprayed in bloom general 

 observation at the blooming season and at various later periods 

 till the fruits were as large as cherries, and a comparison of trees 

 so treated with corresponding trees which were not sprayed in 

 bloom, forced the conclusion that much fruit was destroyed by 

 the treatment. That the yield of the treated trees was not more 

 seriously diminished may be accounted for by the very great 

 abundance of the blossoms and by the fact that at no one time 

 were all of them open and in that stage when they are most 

 susceptible to injury. Under such conditions one treatment 

 during the blooming season, if properly made, could not be 

 expected to cause the loss of a large percentage of the crop of 

 ripe fruit. 



In the tests where the trees were sprayed repeatedly during 

 the blooming season so as to hit as many as possible of the new 

 blossom-s which opened from day to day, but very few blossoms 

 survived the treatment and consequently but little fruit set. 

 This shows that the ordinary spray mixtures surely prevent the 

 setting of fruit when applied to the blossoms soon after they open. 

 If the tree should have a scant amount of blossoms it would seem 

 that serious loss might result from such treatment. 



In some cases the spray mixture had a corrosive effect and 

 killed the tissues of the stamens and pistils. In other cases pis- 

 tils with particles of the spray mixture on the stigmatic surfaces 

 awaited fertilization for several days, apparently unharmed and 

 perfectly healthy, but eventually withered and died. A number 

 of blossoms were observed which showed particles of spray mix- 

 ture on the stigmatic surfaces, but none of these set fruit. It 

 appears therefore that in these cases the spray mixture inhibited 



