530 



FUNDAMENTALS OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



owing to the location of the seeds in that end and not in the basal portion. 

 Seedless or nearly seedless specimens of Taber No. 129, a variety of 

 Japanese persimmon, are almost conical and distinctly pointed, while 

 seed-bearing specimens of the same variety are oblate. Furthermore, 

 "Taber No. 23 when seedy is oblate-rounded, but when seedless it 

 assumes an almost quadrangular form with very blunt or rounded corners. 

 Zengi is oblate-rounded when seedy, but approximates a truncated cone 

 in shape, or is distinctly oblong when seedless. "^*^ 



Size. — Perhaps an even more striking influence of seed formation 

 on the development of the fruit is in size. Seedless grapes are much 

 smaller than seed-containing berries of the same variety and berries 

 containing aborted seeds are intermediate between those that are seed- 

 containing and those that are seedless.* Seed- containing gooseberries 

 have been found to average 5 grams in weight, while seedless berries of 

 the same variety averaged only 3 grams, ^^ Seedless apples and pears 

 are often, though not always, smaller than seed-containing specimens. 

 In the date palm the seedless fruits maturing from unpollinated flowers 

 are only one-third to half the size of normal seed-containing fruits of the 

 same varieties.'"^ 



Furthermore in fruits normally containing a number of seeds consid- 

 erable correlation is likely between the size of the fruit and the number of 

 seeds developing. Munson^^ found this true in the tomato and he 

 observed that the locules were well developed only on the side of the fruit 

 containing a considerable number of good seed. The influence of seed 



Table 5. — Number of Seeds in Fruits That Drop and in Fruits That Remain 



(on the Apple Tree) 



(After Heinicke^^) 



