160 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



The variety Borsdorf has the highest record of any of 

 the 106 in that in no one of the 16 years was there a de- 

 ficiency; it had moderate bloom in 2 years, full bloom in 

 11 years, and very full bloom in 3 years. 



There are wide differences in varieties as regards their 

 blooming tendencies. Some are inclined to produce suffi- 

 cient bloom nearly every year while others rarely attain 

 satisfactory production. 



Cases of alternation of full or heavy with light or no 

 bloom occur occasionally, but they are less common than 

 the occurrence of from 3 to 5 or even 6 consecutive years 

 characterized by the same amount of bloom, either scant, 

 moderate, or full. 



In this fact is seen evidence of the inequality of re- 

 sponse by different varieties to the same attendant con- 

 ditions. Each variety appears to follow a course of its 

 own, individuality stands out strongly and there appears 

 no single agency or group of agencies that operate on 

 more than very restricted lists of varieties for limited 

 periods to govern performance in flower production. 



Effort has been made to trace relationship between 

 amount of bloom, in a given year, and conditions of tem- 

 perature and moisture prevailing during the months of 

 June, July, and August of the preceding year, but the ir- 

 regularities found were such as to render existence of 

 any definite relation doubtful; correlation cannot be es- 

 tablished for the reason that temperature and rainfall 

 are only two of a long array of factors, all of which may 

 operate to influence bloom performance. Temperature 

 and rainfall may be the most important, but taken alone 

 they cannot lead to correct interpretation of observed re- 

 sults because other, and possibly equally important fac- 

 tors are left out. 



Computations from incomplete data serve only to con- 

 fuse; they do not aid in understanding observed phen- 

 nomena and hence accomplish no good purpose. Even 

 with full data at hand, determination of the causes of 

 observed irregularities in flowering would be difficult be- 

 cause of the complex nature of the problem. Like any 

 other problem involving the physiological processes of 

 plants the factors that influence results are very numer- 



