22 STATION BULLETIN 355 



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Seed number was slightly higher in early drops than in those 

 dropping near the date of harvest. Dropped apples had one to two 

 fewer seeds than those picked from the tree at harvest time. Tree- 

 picked fruits were larger than fruits that dropped just previous to 

 harvest. 



Fruits from thinned trees were larger in both dropped and picked 

 lots than from unthinned trees. No such difTerence existed between 

 borax-sprayed and unsprayed trees that were not thinned. 



The early-dropping fruit apparently colored on the tree in ad- 

 vance of those remaining attached until harvest time. 



Fruit on borax-sprayed trees averaged more red color on any 

 given date than fruit on unsprayed trees, although differences on any 

 given date were not statistically significant. 



Variability in results when Mcintosh trees were sprayed with 

 naphthaleneacetic acid leads to the conclusion that this substance does 

 not always delay dropping. In one test dropping of equal amounts 

 of fruit was delayed not more than two days. 



Fruit-dropping of Melba, Early Mcintosh, Gravenstein, and Mil- 

 ton was very definitely retarded following a naphthaleneacetic acid 

 spray. 



