FLOWER BUDS OF APPLES 2(f7 



determination of tlie -best methods of orcliard management to se- 

 cure regular and abundant crops. To add to our scientific knowl- 

 edg-e of such factors has been the purpose of these investigations. 



The Pomology Section is keeping very careful records of the 

 soil moisture in the different plots of the orchard humus ex- 

 periment and of the annual yield of each individual tree. These 

 records have ibeen open to the use of the authors in their inter- 

 in-etative study of the results of the differeut methods of sail 

 management in the experiment plots on the development of fr-uit 

 buds in the varieties of apple trees under observation. 

 REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



Of the many publications on bud formation only those most 

 closely related to the work reported in this bulletin are reviewed. 



^'in.eent (33) in 1884 studied the development and formation 

 of flower ]>uds of a number of conimon orchard fruits. He re- 

 ported the relative development of flower Ijuds as shown by 

 measurements of floral organs, at different times from March 6 

 to July 24. 



rioft' (10. 11, 12, 13), one of the first to make a systematic 

 study of the formation and development of apple flowers, re- 

 ports as a result of his work in 1898 that in case of the Hoadley 

 Apple flo\\Tr and leaf buds were differentiated as early as June. 



As a result of the second investig-ation, Gott' found that flower 

 buds may form in September as well as in July and suggests 

 that flowers are formed as a result of a check in growth which 

 may be caused by drought in summer or the cool nights of 

 autumn. He further states that the flower buds are not struc- 

 turally different from leaf buds but that they probably never 

 revert back to leaf buds. 



The results of liis third series of investigations are summa- 

 rized by the statement that embryo flowers may form on any 

 tree from the time vegetative growth ceases till the middle of 

 September. 



In his fourth report which summarizes the results of his 

 previous investigations on bud formation, the following conclu- 

 sion should be noted : First, that the sap that goes to the un- 

 differentiated buds must contain a certain amount of nutriment 

 l>efore it can form flowers ; second, that the sap may become rich 

 in nutriment 'by girdling below the bud or by the concentration 



Most of the work here reported was done by the junior author while a 

 fellow in the Department of Horticulture. Its success must be attributed 

 to the immense amount of time and energy which he gave to the problem 

 and to his cytological skill and excellent technique. — J. N. M. 



