410 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



calyx to stem, it is considered to have 

 been pollinated by a Newtown, or if a 

 Ben Davis has a similarly placed dark 

 red band, that it was pollinated by a 

 Baldwin. These suppositions must be 

 held to be false and the effect attributed 

 rather to bud variation. We have met 

 with many instances of this sort and are 

 forced to conclude that the pollen which 

 was used had absolutely nothing to do 

 with the color. Soil, the methods of 

 pruning, fertilization, cultivation, irriga- 

 tion and other orchard practices will in- 

 fluence color, quality, etc.. far more than 

 will the pollen of neighboring varieties. 

 As had been mentioned, the three great- 

 est factors influenced by pollination, are 

 size, percentage of set, and uniformity. 

 Certain varieties of pollen may possibly 

 produce, when applied to any given vari- 

 ety, a smaller fruit than normal, and 

 certain other varieties may produce a 

 larger fruit than normal. One of the 

 points that should be emphasized in this 

 consideration is that cross-fertilized fruits 

 generally produce more seeds than do 

 those which are self-fertilized and furth- 

 ermore the greater the number of seeds 

 usually the greater the size and weight 

 of the fruit itself. In fact, seed produc- 

 tion seems to be the exciting cause of 

 the growth of the flesh of the fruit. Of- 

 ten in self-fertilized fruits, while the 

 fruit will come to full maturity, it is 

 not more than a fifth or quarter of the 

 size of a cross-fertilized fruit and is gen- 

 erally seedless. Cases of fruit production 

 without pollination are recorded, but 

 among the pomes at least, this condition 

 must be considered exceptional. 



It may be well also to call attention to 

 the fart that pears will not serve to polli- 

 nate apples nor will apples pollinate 

 pears, though the various species of 

 apples will interpollinate and the same 

 holds true for pears. Cherries, plums, or 

 peaches also cannot be considered in any 

 way to serve as pollenizers for either ap- 

 ples or pears of any variet.v. 



The question then arises, what are the 

 essentials of a good pollenizer. First of 

 all we may say that the two varieties 

 must bloom at the same time. That fact 



is self-evident for if one variety is out of 

 bloom before the other begins it may as 

 well not be there so far as furnishing 

 pollen is concerned. Second, the two va- 

 rieties must have an affinity for each 

 other. That is to say, the pollen of one 

 must be acceptable to the pistils of the 

 other: and such as is going to give the 

 best and most uniform fruits and great- 

 est percenta.ge of set. Third, both must 

 be good pollen producers. If a shy pollen 

 bearer is planted with an abundant pollen 

 bearer, the variety which produces little 

 pollen will, of course, be greatly benefited, 

 but there will be little reciprocal action, 

 as is readily seen. Such an example would 

 be the planting of the Winesap and Rome 

 Beauty. The Winesap produces very lit- 

 tle pollen, whereas the Rome Beauty pro- 

 duces plenty. The former, therefore, 

 would have an abundance of Rome Beauty 

 pollen to fall back on, but the Rome 

 Beauty would stand slight chance of be- 

 ing crossed by the Winesap. Fourth, both 

 varieties preferably should be commercial. 

 This is simply, of course, a practical point 

 in economics. Fifth, both varieties should 

 come into flower at about the same age. 

 For example, were the idea to pollinate 

 the Wagener with Northern Spy, the re- 

 sult would be that for several years the 

 Wagener would be without a pollenizer, in 

 that it comes into bearing much earlier 

 than the Northern Spy. Such a discrep- 

 ancy can be made up in a measure by the 

 use as fillers, of dwarf trees of the late 

 bearing variet.v. Such dwarfs will bear 

 several years in advance of the standard 

 and later can be readily removed. 



Careful experimentation has shown that 

 very little, if any pollen of our tree fruits 

 other than nut trees, is transported by 

 the wind. Probably 99 per cent or more 

 of the transfer of pollen is done by in- 

 sects. Prime among these may be men- 

 tioned the honey bee. Bumble bees, ants, 

 flies, moths and short-tongued bees play 

 an important part. However, there is no 

 doubt but that the common hive bee is 

 by far the best of all, and it will pay 

 every orchardist to have a few stands 

 among his trees. 



In putting out an orchard the system 



