Effects of Rain at Blooming -time. 333 



"When we first began to spray our peach trees 

 to prevent the fruit from rotting, the Bordeaux 

 mixture used was not properly prepared, and as a 

 consequence a large part of the leaves on the sprayed 

 trees fell off prematurely. The next spring it was 

 found that there was a larger proportion of live 

 buds on the trees from which the leaves had fallen 

 than on the rest of the same variety. My explana- 

 tion at the time was that the buds become less 

 hardy in proportion as they are more developed. 

 We know this is true in the spring. The question 

 at once arises, at what stage in the development of 

 a bud is it the most hardy, and how can we best 

 control that development? This seems to me a 

 promising field for careful study." 



The effect of rain upon blossoms. It is perfectly 

 well known that the weather conditions in which 

 plants are growing may profoundly affect the 

 fecundity of the flowers. In the forcing of winter 

 vegetables, for example, it is of the greatest impor- 

 tance to keep the house dry and warm when polli- 

 nation is to be effected, and better results both in 

 the amount of pollen produced, and in the ease 

 with which it is discharged from the anthers are 

 commonly obtained in bright sunshine. (See, also, 

 page 227.) It is very probable that if the flowers 

 of fruit plants were to be kept constantly wet, very 

 little pollination would take place. It is probable, 

 also, that dashing rains at blossoming time wash 

 away much of the pollen, but it is doubtful if 

 enough of it would be lost in such passing storms 



