THE FERTILIZATION OF APPLE BLOSSOMS. 



H. S. PEART, O. A. C, GUELPH. 



THE cause of unfruitfulness in or- 

 chards and vineyards has always 

 been the subect of much surmise, 

 conjecture, and variation of opinion. Some 

 authorities attribute it to lack of cultivation, 

 others to lack of plant food, others to lack 

 of pruning, and so on through a long list of 

 causes. Few, however, have considered it 

 in relation to the power of self-fertilization. 

 For years, however, apple growers have fol- 

 lowed the plan of growing a great number 

 of varieties in order to make fertilization 

 sure. This brings before us the question : 

 Are some varieties sterile to their own pol- 

 len ? Everyone will readily admit that 

 "where varieties are mixed in the plantation 

 the chances for a perfect set of fruit are 

 greater than where each variety stands iso- 

 lated. How far this intermingling of va- 

 rieties need be carried has not been definite- 

 ly ascertained. 



In the spring of 1892 M. B. Waite, of the 

 U. S. Department of Vegetable Pathology, 

 began a set of experiments to ascertain if 

 pear blight was carried from infested to un- 

 infested trees by insects which visited the 

 blossoms. It was found that insects are 



instrumental in assisting the spread of 

 the disease. The question then arose : 

 How can the insects be kept out? Experi- 

 ments were tried by covering the blossoms 

 and excluding the insects. Very startling 

 indeed were the results. It was found that 

 fully one-half of the so-called commercial 

 varieties of pears are sterile to their own 

 pollen. 



The results of the experiments of Waite. 

 together with inquiries from prominent 

 horticulturists, as to the cause of unfruitful- 

 ness in orchards and vineyards caused 

 others to follow up the work. Prof. S. A. 

 Beach, of Geneva, began a study of the 

 grape and published his report in the an- 

 nual report of that station for 1892. Since 

 that time he has continued this work, and 

 quite recently has published a bulletin there- 

 on. Prof. Gofif of Wisconsin, and Prof. 

 Waugh, of Vermont, have worked with 

 plums. Prof. Craig did some work with 

 apples while at Ottawa, but never published 

 a complete report. 



As the apple is now considered the main 

 fruit product of Ontario we should know 

 more of its power of self-fertilization. The 



