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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Apple seeds germinate best when sown 

 in the autumn. If, however, it is not 

 convenient to sow them at that time, 

 they may be stratified; that is, mixed 

 with sand, slightly moist, but not wet, 

 and kept in a cool but dry place until 

 spring. Seeds should not be sown in the 

 autumn in soil which heaves much; bet- 

 ter hold them over and sow them as 

 early in the spring as the soil can be 

 worked. If apple seeds become very dry 

 they may not always germinate satis- 

 factorily, and this should be guarded 

 against. The seeds should be sown thin- 

 ly, about two inches deep, in rows from 

 two and one-half to three feet apart. Or, 

 if the quantity is small, beds may be 

 prepared and the seeds sown in rows 

 about six inches apart. If sown in the 

 autumn, most of them should germinate 

 the following spring and make a growth 

 of from one to two feet that season. 

 They should be transplanted the follow- 

 ing spring into rows from two and one- 

 half to three feet apart, placing them 12 

 inches apart in the rows. The next 

 spring they should be in good condition 

 for planting in the seedling orchard. 



Cross-bred and Hybrid Varieties 



Those varieties which are originated 

 by artificial cross-fertilization and hy- 

 bridization are called cross-bred and hy- 

 brid, respectively. A hybrid is a cross 

 between two species: as, for instance, 

 between Pyrus Mains, the apple, or a 

 variety of it, and Pyrus haccata, the 

 Siberian crab. A cross-bred is a cross 

 between two varieties of the same spe- 

 cies, as, for instance, between the North- 

 ern Spy and Mcintosh Red apples. 



Although nearly all our best apples 

 have been originated as seedlings, the 

 reason is, not that good varieties cannot 

 be produced by artificial cross-fertiliza- 

 tion, but that comparatively little sys- 

 tematic work has been done in this 

 direction in America until recent years. 

 When one considers that a very large 

 number of chance seedlings have been 

 the result of natural cross-fertilization 

 of the flowers of different varieties (for 

 it is now an established fact that many 



varieties of apples are self-sterile) it is 

 reasonable to suppose that a much larger 

 percentage of good apples will be ob- 

 tained if the flowers are pollinated arti- 

 ficially, as then only the varieties which 

 have the characteristics desired in the 

 seedlings will be used as the parents, 

 and, although it has been already said 

 that apples have been so inter-crossed in 

 nature for hundreds of years that there 

 is no certainty what the seedlings of 

 any variety will be like, yet the charac- 

 teristics of the parents will be more 

 likely to predominate than those of vari- 

 eties whose blood has intermingled at a 

 more remote period. Before beginning 

 any work of this kind, it is important, 

 then, to decide what kind of an apple is 

 most desired, and to select as parents 

 those varieties which have as many of 

 the qualities sought for as possible. The 

 seedlings raised will probably have more 

 of the characteristics of the female par- 

 ent than of the male, and this should 

 be taken into consideration when select- 

 ing the variety for that purpose. There 

 is, however, no certainty in the matter, 

 and in originating cross-bred apples it 

 is wise to do some crossing with one 

 variety as the female parent, and some 

 with the variety as the male parent. A 

 hybrid, however, is almost certain to 

 partake moi-e of the female parent if 

 the species differ widely. 



The season when one may pollinate 

 apple blossoms is very limited, as there 

 is only from a week to 10 days during 

 which the work may be done. In the 

 blossom of the apple the organs of re- 

 production represent both sexes. When 

 the pollen, which is the fine dust con- 

 stituting the male part of the flower, 

 comes in contact with the stigma, which 

 is the upper part of the female organ, 

 fertilization is liable to take place, and 

 this must be prevented if artificial pol- 

 lination is to be performed. The pollen 

 which is contained in the anthers is 

 shed almost as soon as the blossoms 

 open, and work must begin, therefore, 

 when the flower is in bud. There are 

 usually five or six buds in a cluster on 

 apple trees, but generally only the strong- 



