1402 



POMOLOGY 



POMOLOGY 



Thinning is usually performed very early in the season, 

 before the vitality of the tree has been taxed. 



6. Spraying of fruit plantations has now come to be a 

 definite ideal. Within the last ten years it has come to 

 be an established orchard practice; no good orchardist 

 is now without his spraying apparatus any more than 

 he is without his tillage tools. When spraying was first 

 advised, the practice seemed to be so revolutionary that 

 great emphasis had to be laid on its importance in order 

 to induce people to undertake it; therefore it may have 

 been emphasized more than its importance justified. 

 This, however, is necessary with all new enterprises. 

 How and when to spray and what materials to use are 

 matters that will always be discussed, because the prac- 

 tices must vary with the season, the kind of fruit, the 

 geographical region, the insects and fungi to be com- 

 bated. Spraying may not be necessary every year, and 

 certainly not equally necessary in all geographical 

 regions; but the fact that spraying is necessary as a 

 general orchard practice is now completely established. 

 Fig. 1898. See Spraying. 



7. Perhaps the most gratifying modern development 

 in our pomology is the demand for instruction in funda- 

 mental principles. Years ago, the pomologist was satis- 

 fied if he had definite directions as to how to perform 

 certain labor. He was told what to do. At the present 

 time, the pomologist wants to be told what to think. 

 There seems to be a tendency in horticultural meetings 

 to drop the discussion of the mere details of practice 

 and to give increasingly more attention to the funda- 

 mental reasons and the results that are to be expected 

 from any line of practice. Knowing why a thing should 

 be done and what the results are likely to be, the 

 pomologist can work out the details for himself, for 

 every fruit plantation and every farm is a law unto 

 itself. 



SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY. The classifying and describ- 

 ing of the kinds of fruits is a particular kind of pomolo- 

 gical knowledge that is left to specialists, who are for the 

 most part writers. With the augmentation in numbers of 

 varieties, it becomes increasingly more important that 

 the most careful attention be given to describing them 

 and to assembling them into their natural groups in or- 

 der that similar kinds may be compared and that it may 

 be possible to determine the name by analyzing the spe- 

 cimen. Necessarily, all classificatory schemes for varie- 

 ties are very imperfect since the varieties often differ 

 by very slight characters, and these characters may 

 vary in different regions and under varying conditions. 

 Theoretically the most perfect classification is one 

 that considers characters of flowers as well as of 

 fruits, but such schemes are usually impracticable be- 



1897. The small gift fruit package. Scene at a railway station. 



cause fruit-growers cannot secure flowers and fruits at 

 the same time. For examples of classificatory schemes 

 the reader may consult the various fruit manuals, but 

 the following examples will show something of the 

 range and method connected with the problem: 



The following is John J. Thomas' scheme for classi- 

 fying peaches : 



Division I. FREESTONES or MELTERS. 

 Class I. Flesh pale or light-colored. 



Section I. Leaves serrated, without glands. 



Section II. Leaves crenate, with globose glands. 



Section III. Leaves with reniform glands. 

 Class II. Flesh deep yellow. 



Section I. Leaves crenated, with globose glands. 



Section II. Leaves with reniform glands. 

 Division II. CLINGSTONES or PAVIES. 

 Class I. Flesh pale or light-colored. 



Section I. Leaves serrated, without glands. 



Section II. Leaves crenate, with globose glands. 



Section III. Leaves with reniform glands. 

 Class II. Flesh deep yellow. 



Section I. Leaves serrate, without glands. 



Section II. Leaves with reniform glands. 

 Class III. Flesh purplish crimson. 



Section I. Glands reniform. 



Following is John A. Warder's scheme for classifying 

 apples, adopted "after a long and careful consideration 

 and study of this subject." See Fig. 1899. 

 Class I. Oblate or flat, having the axis shorter than the trans- 

 verse diameter. 

 Order I. Regular. 

 Order II. Irregular. 

 Section 1. Sweet. 

 Section 2. Sour. 



Subsection 1. Pale or blushed, more or less, but self- 

 colored and not striped. 

 Subsection 2. Striped or splashed. 

 Subsection 3. Russeted. 



Class II. Conical, tapering decidedly toward the eye, and be- 

 coming ovate when larger in the middle and tapering to 

 each end, the axil diameter being the shorter. 

 Orders I and II. 

 Sections 1 and 2. 



Subsections 1, 2 and 3. 



Class III. Round, globular or nearly so, having the axial and 

 transverse diameters about equal, the former often 

 shorter by less than one-quarter of the latter. The ends 

 are often so flattened as to look truncated, when the 

 fruit appears to be cylindrical or globular-oblate. 

 Orders, Sections and Subsections as above. 

 Class IV. Oblong, in which the axis is longer than the trans- 

 verse diameter, or appears so. These may also be trun- 

 cate or cylindrical. 

 Orders, Sections and subsections as above. 



Robert Hogg's classification of Pears ("Fruit Man- 

 ual," 5th ed., London) is as follows: 



A. The length from the base of the stalk to the base of the 

 cells greater than from the base of the cells to the base of the 

 eye. 



Section 1. Length from the base of the stalk to the base of 

 the eye greater than the lateral diameter. 



Section 2. Length from the base of the stalk to the base of 

 the eye less than the lateral diameter. 



Section 3. Length from the base of the stalk of 

 the base of the eye equal to the lateral diameter. 



B. Length from the base of the stalk to the base 

 of the cells less than from the base of the cells to the 

 base of the eye. 



Section 1. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye greater than the lateral dia- 

 meter. 



Section 2. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye less than the lateral diameter. 



Section 3. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye equal to the lateral diameter. 



C. Length from the base of the stalk to the base 

 of the cells equal to that from the base of the cells to 

 the base of the eye. 



Section 1. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye greater than the lateral diam- 

 eter. 



Section 2. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye less than the lateral diameter. 



Section 3. Length from the base of the stalk to 

 the base of the eye equal to the lateral diameter. 



A stable and attractive systematic pomology 

 must give careful attention to the names of va- 

 rieties. In North America much has been done, 

 particularly under the auspices of the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society, to simplify and cod- 

 ify the ideas associated with the nomencla- 

 ture of fruits. The latest set of rules for the naming 

 of horticultural varieties is that proposed by the Cor- 

 nell Horticulturists' Lazy Club, and first published in 

 American Gardening Oct. 15, 1898 (see also Waugh's 

 pamphlet on "Horticultural Nomenclature") : 



