406 STATE rOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



expect it to be employed to any considerable extent. It is to remove the blos- 

 soms from a part of the tree on the bearing year, or perliaps it would be less 

 labor to cut or pick off the young fruit as soon as formed. We think this 

 ^vould be pretty certain to induce the growth of fruit-buds for the next year's 

 crop. But will this change be permanent so that the trees thus treated will 

 continue to bear their largest crops in the years of scarcity? We can see but 

 one cause that may i)revent it, and that is the following: Every few years oc- 

 curs a season wlien, from some cause or other, perhaps a heavy frost wliile the 

 trees are in bloom, there is a complete failure of the crop. Then all of the 

 trees would form fruit-buds and probably bear a heavy crop tlie succeeding 

 year. We think this also explain.-; wliy orcliards planted different years, and 

 perhaps beginning to bear in alternate years, after the lapse of a few years are 

 all bearing together. — Rural Home. 



CHANGING THE BEARING YEAR. 



The failure of the apple crop, in some sections, has caused an inquiry to be 

 made as to the possibility of changing the bearing year of the varieties. One 

 writer suggests that removing all the fruit from a portion of the trees one sea- 

 son may remedy the failure. One thing is certain : that a full crop of apples is 

 not ordinarily grown on the same tree for two years in succession. Wiiether 

 this is caused by a diminution of the reproductive functions of the tree by de- 

 pletion of its juices, or by natural causes, such as frosts, storms at blooming 

 period, or the condition of the soil, is by no means sure. I am, however, of 

 the opinion that it is caused by a law of Nature, which requires that all used-up 

 tissues be replaced by others before they can be called upon to perform their 

 duties; and, therefore, this season of rest is given to enable the tree to recupe- 

 rate its vital energies. If this were the fact, however, would it not follow that 

 a crop of apples might be secured by planting trees of different ages? In prac- 

 tice, trees of the same variety bear the same year, not only in the same orch- 

 ard, but in whole sections of country where soil and climate are alike. Occa- 

 sional exceptions sometimes occur, an instance of the kind being the Yellow 

 Bellflower, which is this season producing a good crop in one neighbor's orch- 

 ard, while in another orchard, only a couple of miles away, the same variety is 

 barren. I am inclined to believe that the season has more to do with producing 

 a crop of ai)ples than anything else. Nearly all varieties blossom freely every 

 spring, and, under the most favorable conditions, the blossoms will fertilize; 

 but most favorable conditions seldom exist; hence, the weakened reproductive 

 organs fail to perform their part, and the result is a failure of the crop. A 

 season's rest supplies the tree with a fresh amount of vigor, and even with con- 

 ditions not the most favorable the blossoms arc fertilized. 



This is a restatement of the accepted fact that some of our fruit trees long 

 ago adopted the biennial system. But the why of it is not set forth in the con- 

 jecture above given. The problem is one of the most interesting in the whole 

 Held of pomology, but, altliougli many curious facts have been recorded rcsi)ect- 

 ing the "on" and "off" years of apples, etc., no satisfactory reason for the 

 biennial barrenness has yet been presented. — J\'. Y. Tribune. 



