A STUDY OF VARIATION IN APPLES. 



23 



These figures are for the Ben Davis trees only, as the Baldwins have 

 been so irregular in bearing as to seriously interfere with any signifi- 

 cance that the figures might otherwise have. The upper south quarters 

 of the trees have borne the greatest number of apples, and the annual 

 fluctuations have been least. However, the difference is not great enough 

 to have much significance. So far as it goes it is in accordance with the 

 reasonable supposition that that part of the tree most exposed to the 

 warmth and fight of the sun sets the largest number of fruits. As will be 

 shown later the upper south part of the trees have yielded larger apples 

 as well as a few more, so that the yield in barrels should be sensibly greater. 

 If this is true of the parts of the tree, may it not indicate that a southern 

 slope will yield more than a northern one? Probably such an assumption 

 would be hardly justified, especially as the increased size may not hold 

 generally. Also there have doubtless been small variations in the division 

 of the trees from year to year, but these would tend to offset each other 

 when the whole period is considered. Warren, ^ found in Wayne County, 

 N. Y., the highest yields on easterly slopes, while Martin, found in 

 Ontario County that the largest yields were from orchards on level sites 

 followed by those on north, east and w^est slopes in the order given.^ 



Size. 



The measurements of the greatest cross diameter seem to reveal signifi- 

 cant differences in the size of the apples in both individual trees and 

 different parts of the tree. Of the several Ben Davis trees No. 7 has borne 

 the largest apples, 72.92 millimeters, and No. 3 the smallest, 69.99 milli- 

 meters ; and there has been a fair degree of consistency in the sizes from 

 year to year, No. 7 not having fallen below third place in any one year, 

 and No. 3 having risen above fourth place only once. The other three 

 trees have shown greater fluctuation from year to year, all having occupied 

 both first and last places in the course of the six years of observation, 

 and the differences in averages are not large. The few figures available 

 for the Baldwins are greater and are consistent from year to year. Tree 



1 Cornell Bull. 226. p. 326. 



Cornell Bull. 307, p. 107. 



