Potentials of Auxins and Auxin Research 307 



own. A striking instance of this is the side effects resulting from the 

 forcing of flowering in the pineapple by naphthaleneacetic acid. The 

 spec tacular results which are obtained in this type of application :v:c 

 not without limitations, for, as has been pointed out in previous sec- 

 tions, the auxin sprays may produce such undesirable effects as the 

 production of a peduncle too long and thin to support the fruit, and 

 the accentuation of apical dominance in the peduncle and stem results 

 in a reduced production of slips for planting material. Another side 

 effect is the production of smaller fruits in the pineapple, for as van 

 Overbeek (1946) has shown, the size of the fruit is a function of the 

 size of the plant at the time of floral initiation, and obviously the 

 forcing of plants before the time they would naturally initiate flowers 

 results in fruit production by smaller plants and hence smaller fruits. 

 Another instance of uses of auxins creating new problems is found 

 in the many reports by herbicide workers that auxin applications 

 which will effectively kill the weeds may also have detrimental effects 

 upon the crop plant. For each use of auxin in agriculture there appears 

 to be at least one detrimental side effect and the actual usefulness of 

 the method depends on the net gain between the beneficial effects and 

 the detrimental effects. 



The second reservation that should be kept in mind concerning 

 auxin use is that auxins will never replace good agricultural practice. 

 It is perfectly clear that weak plants are most susceptible to auxin 

 damage, and consequently the lower the quality of the crop at the 

 time auxin is applied, the greater the potential for undesirable side 

 effects. This points up the even greater need for good agricultural 

 practices when auxins are going to be employed. 



THE PROSPECT FOR THE FUTURE 



It is undeniably true that the trend of research in auxin phys- 

 iology is more and more toward technology and less and less toward 

 fundamental research. One need not be reminded that the early 

 studies in auxin physiology were all carried out by fundamental 

 research workers until the first commercial application of auxins be- 

 came evident — that of rooting. From that time on, technological 

 research has taken over a greater and greater share of the research 

 on auxins. 



It is rather startling to find in the report of the Committee for 

 Professional Status and Training of the American Association of 

 Plant Physiologists (Bonner et al, 1950), that 81 per cent of the plant 

 physiologists in the United States are in the applied fields. Further- 

 more, of the 19 per cent listed as not being in technological work, a 



