422 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Effect of Cross-Pollination on tlie Color 

 of Apples 



There has been some discussion in the 

 past as to tlie effect of cross-pollination 

 on the color of apples. Some have talien 

 the ground that such crossing did effect 

 the color of the variety crossed, others, 

 that no such effect was produced and 

 that, in the nature of the case, no effect 

 could be looked for. 



In order to ascertain the position of 

 investigators at the present time on this 

 point, some 50 letters were sent to heads 

 of departments of horticulture in the 

 various experiment stations in the coun- 

 try and to others whose knowledge or 

 opportunity for observation would en- 

 title them to an opinion. The majority 

 of opinions thus far seems against the 

 theory. All shades of opinion, however, 

 are given. 



"From my personal observation made 

 in an orchard of from 100 to 200 trees 

 I find that there is no immediate effect 

 of pollination upon the color of the 

 different varieties of fruit." 



G. E. Adams, 

 Rhode Island State College. 



"As far as color is concerned we find 

 that, after working six years, very little 

 change is produced directly by pollina- 

 tion. We have made no observations that 

 lead us to believe that color was directly 

 affected by pollination. Wherever we 

 have detected any change in color it has 

 been slight. The benefits of cross-pollin- 

 ation are, first, that you get a larger 

 percentage of blossoms to set; second, 

 that there are occasional changes in 

 size and form." C. I. Lewis, 



Oregon Experiment Station. 



"I have never seen among fruit trees, 

 except in a few instances, the color and 

 form which I could believe had any evi- 

 dence of being changed by cross-pollina- 

 tion. I think that, in a case where apples 

 turn dark or striped, it is wholly the 

 result of their having been crossed be- 

 fore, similar to bud sports, which, in 

 fact, they are, in my opinion. The whole 

 matter is in heredity, not from pollen." 



LUTIIER BtTRB.4NK. 

 Santa Rosa, Cal. 



"Top grafting one variety of apples on 

 another will not change the color of the 

 fruit, nor will cross-pollination. The 

 cross is not completed until the seeds 

 have been planted and the new tree pro- 

 duced." 



F. Waxden, 

 Seattle, Wash. 



"Speaking from the standpoint of a 

 number of years of observation I do not 

 believ^e that any definite effect of this 

 kind (change in color) can be counted 

 upon with certainty. One frequently 

 finds examples of Greenings being appar- 

 ently affected by the pollen of a Russet 

 variety standing in somewhat close prox- 

 imity, but I do not think you can count 

 on these effects occurring with continu- 

 ous regularity. They are to be regarded 

 as occasional and somewhat sporadic. 

 The influence of cross-pollination seems 

 to be associated with affinities of vari- 

 eties for each other." 



John Craig, 

 New York State Agricultural College. 



"Observations on cross-pollination of 

 apples at this station do not furnish any 

 evidence that the color of varieties is 

 affected." 



Albert Dickens, 

 Kansas State Agricultural College. 



"Insofar as our knowledge of plant 

 breeding goes, the application, for ex- 

 ample, of Arkansas Black pollen to Spitz- 

 enburg would have no effect on the color 

 of the resulting apples. The pollen 

 affects only the seeds." 



James G. Moore, 

 University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture. 



"I am inclined to think that there is 

 not much basis for this theory (Effect 

 of foreign pollen on the color of apples). 

 The case is quite different from that of 

 Xenia in corn, inasmuch as we are here 

 concerned with the color of adnate parts 

 of the seed rather than the color of the 

 seed coat." 



H. L. Price, 

 Virginia Experiment Station. 



"I have made numerous cross-pollina- 

 tions between various varieties of apples 



