44 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



INFERTILE BLOSSOMS THE CAUSE OF BARRENNESS. 



HE cause of barren orchards was under discussion at our 

 meeting at Woodstock, and Horticulturist Craig, of Ottawa, 

 gave his opinion that in many cases this state of our 

 orchards is due to infertility of blossom. With a view of 

 further investigating the subject, Mr. Craig read a very 

 interesting paper on The Blossoming Period of Fruit Trees, 

 which showed (i), the time of blossoming of the different 

 varieties in the same locality, and (2), the different times of blossoming of the 

 same variety in different parts of our country. Evidently if it is necessary to 

 have the blossom of our varieties fertilized by the pollen of another variety for 

 fruitfulness, the varieties must be such as bloom at the same period. In this 

 connection the following extract from Bulletin 102 of Cornell University will 

 interest our thoughtful readers : — 



In late years it has been observed that some varieties are commonly infer- 

 tile with themselves ; that is, the pollen of one variety is more or less impotent 

 upon flowers of the same variety. The subject is very little understood, and it 

 is not yet safe to generalize upon it ; but it is a good practice to plant varieties 

 in alternate rows or only two rows together, to insure free fertilization. Some 

 of the varieties of apples and pears which have been studied in this respect (by 

 Waite and Fairchild) are as follows : — 



Apples. 

 Varieties fnore or less self-sterile. — Bellfleur, Chenango, Gravenstein, King, 

 Spy, Norton, Melon, Primate, Rambo, Red Astrachan, Roxbury Russet, Spit- 

 zenburg, Talman Sweet, 



Varieties generally self-fertile. — Baldwin, Codlin, Greening. 



Pears. 

 Varieties more or less self -sterile. — Anjou, Bartlett, Boussock, Clairgeau, 

 Clapp, Columbia, Easter, Gray Doyenne, Howell, Jones, Lawrence, Louise 

 Bonne, Mount Vernon, Sheldon, Souvenir du Congres, Superfin, Colonel 

 Wilder, Winter Nelis. 



Varieties mostly self-fertile. — Angouleme, Bosc, Buffum, Diel, Flemish 

 Beauty, Kieffer, Le Conte, Manning's Elizabeth, Seckel, Tyson, White Doyenne. 

 // i& probable that many trees fail to bear because propagated from unproduc- 

 tive trees. — We know that no two trees in any orchard are alike, either in the 

 amount of fruit which they bear, or in their vigor and habit of growth. Some 

 are uniformly productive, and some are uniformly unproductive. We know, 

 too, that cions or buds tend to reproduce the characters of the tree from which 

 they are taken. A gardener would never think of taking cuttings from a rose 

 bush or chrysanthemum or a carnation which does not bear flowers. Why 

 should a fruit grower take cions from a tree which he knows to be unprofitable ? 

 The indiscriminate cutting of cions is too clumsy and inexact a practice 

 for these days, when we are trying to introduce scientific methods into our 

 farming. I am convinced that some trees cannot be made to bear by any 

 amount of treatment. They are not the bearing kind. 



