424 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



"We have for three years been carry- 

 ing on apple breeding experiments at 

 this station, the object being to secure 

 an apple better adapted to Idaho condi- 

 tions than now existing varieties. In 

 the spring of 1910 we made approxi- 

 mately 5,000 crosses. From this work we 

 got a little better than 2,000 apples. The 

 varieties that we are using are Ben 

 Davis, Spitzenburg, Wagener. Jonathan 

 and Winesap. In the fall of 1910 I 

 noticed a variation in size, flavor and 

 color. The color factor was the most 

 interesting one to me. As a rule the 

 female parent characters were exceed- 

 ingly strong. By placing the apple from 

 certain parents together, such as Jona- 

 than and Ben Davis, and comparing this 

 bunch of apples with the apples secured 

 by a Spitzenburg and Ben Davis cross, 

 I noticed a very superior color on the 

 latter crop. In other words, when the 

 Spitzenburg was used as a male the 

 crosses all showed the Ben Davis char- 

 acters in form, size and texture of flesh, 

 but much more highly colored than the 

 crosses where the Ben Davis was used 

 as a male and the above named variety 

 used as a female. These conditions were 

 not so noticeable among our crosses of 

 1911 but were slightly showing. We do 

 not have sufficient proof at the present 

 time to say that such conditions will 

 always exist but I am inclined to think 

 that the color character will respond to 

 environmental influence more quickly 

 than any others.*" 



W. H. Wicks, 



Universit.v of Idalio. College of Asriculture. 



"In all of my long years of experience 

 in hand pollinating apple blossoms in 

 connection with apple breeding work, I 

 have rarely seen any change in color or 

 form which could be attributed only to 

 the immediate influence of the pollen. 

 There came to my notice some years 

 ago, an apple on which two-flfths was 

 the color of the Pewaukee. The apple 

 was produced on a Pewaukee tree in 



• Observation on the 1912 crop convinced 

 Professor Wicks that there was nothing In the 

 theory and that the supposed effects on the 

 1911 crop were due to environmental causes. — 

 Ed. 



which the branches interlaced with those 

 of an adjacent Wealthy tree. The effect 

 of the immediate influence of pollen was 

 so clear and unmistakable that I had 

 the apple modeled in wax. The model is 

 now in the museum at the State Experi- 

 ment Station at Geneva, N. Y." 



S. H. Beach, 



Iowa State College and Expeiiment Station. 



"There is good reason to believe that 

 the source of pollen might, to a very 

 limited extent, modify the size of the 

 fruit produced and, in some rare cases, 

 the color to a slight extent." 



O. M. MOBEIS, 



State College of Washington. 



"In my own experience I do not re- 

 member any instance that attracted my 

 attention save occasional specimens of 

 apples seen bearing, say, a sharply de- 

 fined longitudinal band of red on a yel- 

 lowish apple, the band covering one-fifth, 

 two-fifths or three-fifths of the apple. 

 The only explanation I have ever seen 

 of this is that the apple, having five 

 stigmas, in this case. one. two or three 

 stigmas had been pollinated with pollen 

 from a red variety, but this, I think, is 

 merely a theoretical explanation." 



E. W.M,KER, 

 College of Agi'iculture, Fayetteville. Ark. 



SELF-FERTILE AND SELF-STERILE 

 FRUITS 



Some varieties of fruits are more or 

 less completely unable to pollinate them- 

 selves, and they should be planted near 

 other varieties to insure fruitfulness. 

 Any variety will fertilize any other 

 variety of the same species, so far as 

 known, if the bloom occurs at the same 

 time. In general, in planting a self- 

 sterile variety, every second or third 

 row should be planted to some other 

 variety. The subject is little understood, 

 but the following lists represent the best 

 of our knowledge. 



Pears (Waite) 



Varieties more or les^ self-sterile. — 

 Anjou. Bartlett. Boussock. Clairgeau, 

 Clapp, Columbia. De la Chene, Doyenne 



