1911. 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 31. 



199 



suited by ditfereiit stocks. We know of no experiments to learn 

 what are the preferences of diHereiit xarieties or soils, but it ap- 

 pears to be a desirable and promising line of investigation. 



VI. THE MODIFYING EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON THE DE- 

 VELOPMENT OF THE APPLE. 



Ox Form. 

 In the last report of this station ^ the question of the variation 

 in form of the Ben Davis was dealt with to some extent, but 

 without arriving at any very definite conclusion as to the cause, 

 further than that it was climatic and closely related to the near- 

 ness of large bodies of water. Since this report was written, 

 two years' further work have been completed, which serve to 

 emphasize the conclusions mentioned above, and to show, fur- 

 ther, that there are large seasonal fluctuations in the index of 

 form. The following figures from a few selected stations will 

 illustrate this: — 



Table 3. — Seasonal Variation in Form. 



1 Report Massachu.setts Experiment Station, 22, p. 194 (1909). The reader is referred to thia 

 paper for the methods used in measuring and studying this variation in form. 



