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312 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE, 
by a slight addition of alcohol to effect a more ae solution of some of the 
gummy principles. Sulphate of ether, instead of alcohol, has been used in des- 
perate cases of cholera infantum and for the diarrhea which often follows scarlet 
fever. i 
I should also add that the blossoms placed in water form a mucilage excellent 
for inflamed eves. : G 
IMMEDIATE INFLUENCE OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION UPON THE FRUIT. 
: By A. A. Crozizr, Assistant Botanist. 
This subject has received renewed attention from horticulturists 
and others during the last few years, and has been an object of ex- 
periment by private growers and at several of the agricultural col- 
leges and experiment stations. It is a question of considerable prac- 
tical importance. If different varieties of plants growing together 
may affect directly the character of each other’s fruits, the fact — 
should be definitely known and the extent of such influence deter-. 
mined, From the evidence collected it appears that many growers 
believe that in at least some cases such an influence exists. Squashes 
and pumpkins, for example, are believed to affect melons growing in 
their vicinity. In certain sections it has been the practice of market 
gardeners to plant an occasional hill of punepkins in their fields of 
water-melons for the purpose of increasing the size and firmness of 
the melons for market. Among strawberry-growers it is widely be- — 
lieved that the berries of pistillate varieties will vary in character’ , 
according to the staminate variety which furnishes the pollen. As 
many of the best varieties of strawberries are pistillate and require 
to be fertilized by some perfect flowered variety, it becomes impor- 
tant to know with certainty whether such an influence exists or not. 
The question of the immediate influence of cross-fertilization upon 
the fruit has not heretofore received the attention of the Department. 
All the attainable evidence on the subject has therefore been col- 
lected both from growers and publications, and the principal portion 
of it, together with the results of a few additional experiments, is 
herewith printed. The total amount of existing testimony is consid- 
erable, but the amount of reliable evidence is small. The evidence 
here given, though sufficient, perhaps, to establish a probability, is 
intended mainly as a basis for a more complete study of the subject, 
which it is hoped will be made. 
- 
SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE. 
Charles Darwin* gives a large amount of testimony to prove that 
cross-fertilization has an effect the first season upon the ovary or 
fruit as well as upon the seed; but he says that such an effect does 
not always follow, and that Mr. Knight, a careful observer, had 
never seen the fruit affected, though he ‘had crossed thousands of 
apples and other fruits. 
Dr. Asa Gray*’” contributes several articles on this subject to the 
American Journal of Science, and states that ‘‘it is generally agreed 
that the alteration of the character of the fruit is immediate, 7. e., 
that it affects the ovary itself,” and adds: ‘““Improbable as such an _ 
influence seems to be, it is hardly more so than the now.authenti- 
cated fact that the graft of a variegated vaitiety of a shrub or tree 
will slowly infect the stock.” ig 
Thomas Meehan, after publishing much on the subject in his Gar ~ 
deners’ Monthly,’*” reviews the whole question in an article in the 
