state: POAIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 93 



HORTICULTURAL MEETINGS. 



The various state horticultural meetings are just beginning to 

 come off, and it is very easy to see who are the leading horti- 

 culturists in each state. They are the men who go to the meet- 

 ings and take part. Is there a man anywhere who does not 

 want to be a leading horticulturist in his state? Let him stay 

 away from the meetings of his state society. It is odd though, 

 w^hen it is so apparent that the societies are composed almost 

 exclusively of leading men, that more men do not aspire to join 

 the ranks of the successful and influential ones. The fact is, it 

 just about amounts to this, that a man who has not the ambition 

 and the enterprise to attend tlie meetings of his state horti- 

 cultural society, hasn't the qualities to make him a success in the 

 practice of horticulture. 



POLLINATION IN ORCHARDS. 



VARIOUS REASONS WHY FLOWERS DO NOT SET. 



All observing fruit-growers have seen trees which blossom 

 full but do not set a fair am.ount of fruit ; many have found their 

 orchards unprofitable for this reason. It is a practical point to 

 know the causes of this loss and the best way to prevent it. 



In the first place, but a small percentage of the blossoms set 

 fruit anyway, even in the most favorable seasons and with the 

 most productive varieties. In blossoming time a Japanese plum 

 tree is a mass of white, carrying scores of flow^ers on a single 

 branch ; yet scarcely a dozen fruits may set on that twig, and 

 some qf those must be removed or the tree will overbear. 



This normal failure in the setting of fruit blossoms may be due 

 to a number of causes ; as poorly nourished fruit-buds, lack of 

 pollination, or winter injury to the pistils which cannot be seen 

 with the eye alone. It is usually a distinct advantage to the 

 fruit-grower, as it saves thinning. If all plum blossoms set fruit, 

 the expense of thinning would be multiplied many times. Only 

 when the failure of fruit blossoms to set becomes general, does 

 the fruit-grower feel the loss and call for an explanation. 



