February, 1920 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page II 



Kir.uHF. 1. 



X 



o 



O X 



o 



O X 



XXX 



o o 



XXX 



o o 



XXX 



XXX 



o o 



XXX 



o marks represent orchard heaters. 

 X marks represent trees. 



only reduces the size of the crop but 

 may permanently injure the future 

 health of the trees themselves. A fruit 

 tree at this stage of development can- 

 not stand being smoked like a ham, so 

 it is important that the heaters burn 

 the fuel with a good degree of cumbus- 

 tion. 



The latest and much approved types 

 of orchard heaters are constructed with 

 dampers. This improvement permits of 

 regulating the amount of heat necessary 

 to combat the temperature upon a par- 

 ticular night and thus works a big econ- 

 omy in the saving of fuel oil as it is 

 both useless and impractical to burn 



the heaters at full blast when the temp- 

 erature has only reached twenty-five 

 degrees. In case the succeeding night 

 the temperature falls to 20 degrees it 

 would be necessary to apply a greater 

 amount of heat and the dampers could 

 be adjusted very quickly to offset the 



Continued on page 38. 



Results of Pollination Studies at Idaho University 



By C. C. Vincent, Horticulturist. University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 



THE subject which has been assign- 

 ed for me to discuss, "Orchard Pol- 

 lination," is one which has re- 

 ceived considerable attention at the 

 Idaho Experiment Station for the past 

 ten years. The original problem, 

 Apple Breeding, has had to do with the 

 improvement of orchard fruits and in 

 the investigating of this phase of the 

 work, certain problems have been en- 

 countered, which it is hoped will prove 

 of interest and value to all investigators 

 in a similar field as well as to practical 

 orchardists of the Pacific Northwest. 



Self-Sterility an Orchard Problem. 



One of the first problems in orchard 

 pollination is the discovery of varieties 

 which are inclined to be unfruitful 

 when planted alone. There are several 

 reasons for this failure to produce 

 fruit: too vigorous wood growth; de- 

 fective stamens, which do not produce 

 normal pollen; location; climatic con- 

 ditions such as frost injury and rain 

 during the blooming period. Probably 

 the principal cause of self sterility is 

 the inability of the pollen of a variety 

 to fertilize its pistils. 



The writer first became interested In 

 pollination studies in 1907, while con- 

 nected with the Oregon Agricultural 



The bagging methods used in making sterility 

 and fertility tests. 



College. The results of this work were 

 reported in Bulletin No. 104 of that sta- 

 tion. The data showed that out of 87 

 varieties of apples, 59 varieties were 

 found to be self-sterile; 15 varieties 

 self-fertile; and 13 varieties partially 

 self-fertile. 



Various reports seem to indicate that 

 a variety may be self-fertile in one lo- 

 cality and self-sterile in another. W. S. 

 Fletcher in his bulletin entitled "Pol- 

 lination in Orchards," concludes that 

 "self-sterility is not a constant charac- 

 ter with any variety." The same vari- 

 ety may be self-sterile in any place, and 

 nearly self-fertile in another. Darwin 

 writes of a plant that was self-sterile 

 in Brazil, but when grown in England 

 became self-fertile in one or two gener- 

 ations. 



That self-sterility is not a constant 

 character is shown by the following ex- 

 amples: The Yellow Newtown is listed 

 as self-sterile in Farmers' Bulletin No. 

 65, and self-fertile in Oregon Bulletin 

 No. 101. In our experiments at the Ida- 

 ho Experiment Station we have found 

 this variety to be partially self-fertile. 

 The Rhode Island Greening is listed as 

 self-fertile in Farmers' Bulletin No. 65 

 and in Bailey's "Principles of Fruit 



