204 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



when pollinated with Kietfer and with Lawrence pollen. Clapp pollinated 

 with Kieffer was also larg-er than Clapp pollinated with Lawrence or Louise 

 Bonne. Howell blossoms which received the pollen of Clapp gave fruits of 

 nearly twice the size of those which received Bartlett pollen. Bartletts 

 crossed with Ang-ouleme were larger than Bartletts crossed with Sheldon. 

 In some cases no difference could be noticed, yet most of our standard com- 

 mercial varieties will be likely to yield enough better fruit when planted 

 with some varieties than with others, to make a study of this point worth 

 the while. 



Some of the combinations which have been very successful in the com- 

 mercial orchards of the country are: Bartlett with Nelis, Flemish Beauty, 

 Easter, White Doyenne; Idaho with Bartlett; Kieffer with LeConte, Garber; 

 Coe Golden Drop with French prune, Green Gage. Italian prune (Fellen- 

 burg); Statsuma with Abundance. Burbank, Red .June: Miner with DeSoto, 

 Forest Rose, Wild Goose; Wild Goose with DeSoto, Newman, Miner. 



DOES CROSSING CHANGE THE APPEARANCE OF THE FRUIT? 



In connection with the mutual affinity of varieties which are selected for 

 cross-pollination there comes the question of the "immediate influence" of 

 pollen. For instance, if Seckel pollen is put on Kieflfer pistils, will it impart 

 the Seckel flavor, color and characteristic shape to the resulting fruit? Of 

 course the characters of both may be united in the seeds, and the trees which 

 come from these seeds may be expected to be intermediates: but is the flesh 

 of the fruit ever changed by foreign pollen? 



The increase in sjze which often follows crossing cannot be called a true 

 immediate influence, for the foreign pollen gezierally stimulates the fruit to 

 a better growth because it is more acceptable to the pistils, not because it 

 carries over the size-character of the variety from which it came. In 1899, 

 Hyslop crab pistils, which were fertilized with pollen from the great Tomp- 

 kins County King, grew into fruits of the usual crab size. An immediate 

 influence in size may be possible, for the size of the fruit is nearly as con- 

 stant a varietal character as is the shape; but most of the increased -size in 

 crosses of orchard fruits jjrobably arises from the fact that the pollen is 

 more acceptable. 



Setting aside the usual gain in size resulting from crossing, we wish to 

 know whether there will be any change in the shape, color, quality, and sea- 

 son of ripening of the fruit. A few undoubted instances of this influence 

 have been noticed with soiue plants in which the seed is the principal part 

 of the fruit, as the mixing of sweet corn and field corn; also, perhaps, in 

 various peas and beans. When the seed is surrounded by a fleshy pulp, how- 

 ever, as in our common orchard fruits, it is still in dispute whether this pulp 

 is influenced, however much the seeds themselves may be. Most men have 

 formed their convictions about the immediate influence of pollen from obser- 

 vation, rather than from experimental proof. It does not necessarily follow 

 that "sweet and sour" apples are due to cross-pollination, nor that the rus- 

 set on Greening apples borne on the side of the tree next a Roxbury was 

 produced by the influence of the Roxbury pollen. 



