PROCEEDINGS OF THE ANNUAL MEETING. 361 



Mr. Riehl: There was a drouth, jes, sir, and those trees did not suffer. 



Mr. Hale: Answering our friend on the right (it does not seem as 

 though Mr. Eiehl had made it clear), while he has made it clear that cow 

 peas are very rich forage indeed, yet if we are growing cow peas or any 

 green crop in our orchard we are growing them not for the purpose of 

 producing forage but for the benefit of our orchard. If you want them 

 for forage, grow them in some other field. The purpose of planting these 

 green crops in our orchards is for the improvement of their condition 

 mechanically, and for adding plant food cheaper than we can buy 

 fertilizer. 



RELATIVE HARDINESS OF FRUIT BUDS OF PEACHES AND PLUMS. 

 BY PEOF. JOHN CRAIG OF OTTAWA, ONTARIO. 



The cause of the frequent and sometimes chronic unfruitfulness of 

 apple and pear orchards is invariably a source of deep financial interest 

 to the fruitgrower, besides furnishing subjects for the speculation of the 

 theorist and for the investigation of the scientist. It is cheering to note 

 that the efforts of patient scientists and observant fruitgrowers are being 

 rewarded each year by the addition of some new facts to our store of 

 knowledge upon this subject. In this connection, I am reminded of an 

 excellent review of the field, presented to your society by Prof. Bailey 

 some two or three years ago. The w^ork of Prof. Waite upon pear blos- 

 soms has been duplicated by Prof. Beach upon grapes, and these observa- 

 tions now give us a large amount of valuable data. My object at this 

 time is to present for your consideration some thoughts and some facts 

 bearing upon the relative ability of the fruit buds of our cultivated 

 peaches aud plums to withstand low and rapidly fluctuating tempera- 

 tures. 



The fruit bud is, after all, only a modified branch — a good deal com- 

 pressed, it is true, as in the case of a leaf bud, into a small space. 



Beginning at the centre of a cherry, peach, or plum blossom, we find 

 the pistil or female organ. It is composed of a dilated basal portion, the 

 ovary — a long, tube-like prolongation, the style, with a knob-like termin- 

 ation called the stigma. The pistil is made by the fusion of two sessile 

 leaves — that is, leaves without stems. Around the pistil we find a small 

 army of stamens. These, too, are modified leaves, modified for a certain 

 purpose. A single stamen is made up of a delicate stalk (filament) ending 

 in a cylindrical blade (anther). The anther contains the pollen sacs, 

 which lie on both sides of the connective line. There are usually four 

 pollen sacs in each anther. The pollen is developed b}' a modification of 

 the internal cell tissue. When the stamen has matured, these pollen 

 grains are liberated by the splitting of the anther, which at the same 

 time opens the pollen sacs. The power which art may exercise over plant 

 growth is shown in the modification of a stamen into a petal, as in the 

 doubling of flowers, and even into green leaves, which is a still more 

 retrogressive action. Surrounding the stamens we find a series of 

 46 



