BUD VARIATION IN THE MARSH GRAPEFRUIT. 19 



found in these trees bearing fruits all of which were heavily seeded. 

 Frequently individual fruits, either seedless or heavily seeded, are 

 found in trees of the Marsh strain. However, seedless fruits occur 

 much more frequently than heavily seeded ones. 



In trees of the Rough Seedy strain, smooth, flattened, seedless 

 fruits characteristic of the Marsh strain have been found. The 

 occurrence of the typical Marsh fruits in the trees of the Rough 

 Seedy strain is as much of a variation as the occurrence of ribbed 

 fruits in trees of the Marsh strain. 



In a few cases limbs have been found in trees of the Marsh strain 

 bearing several bell-shaped, corrugated fruits with thick rinds, as 

 illustrated in Plate X. These fruits are produced from flowers 

 which bloom during the normal period and are not the result of flowers 

 developed out of the regular blooming period. 



Many other variations in fruits of the Marsh variety of grapefruit 

 have been observed, but are apparently of less importance than the 

 ones cited in the foregoing paragraphs. The studies of these fruits 

 and their relation to bud variation and bud selection are being con- 

 tinued with the object of securing definite and reliable information 

 concerning their characteristics. 



SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN PRODUCTION. 



The influence of extreme climatic conditions upon the behavior 

 of grapefruit trees, while less marked than in the case of orange and 

 lemon varieties, is, nevertheless, of importance in considering the 

 performance records of the individual trees in these investigations. 

 For instance, the severe freeze during the winter of 1913 upset the 

 behavior of these trees to some extent for the two following seasons. 

 One effect of the freeze was to kill much of the tender fruit-bearing 

 wood. Naturally the loss was greater in the productive than in the 

 unproductive trees. The loss of this wood and the time required for 

 the tree to repair the injury resulted in a reduction of the yield for the 

 following seasons. 



Continued dry winds, with a very low condition of relative humidity, 

 sometimes increase the transpiration from the trees beyond the wilt- 

 ing point. The evaporation of soil moisture is also increased to an 

 abnormal degree at such times, thus reducing the moisture available 

 for use by the trees. Such conditions check the development of 

 fruit-bearing wood and influence the amount, texture, and appear- 

 ance of the rind and size of the fruits. If these dry winds occur 

 during the blooming period, or shortly following that time, an 

 unusual drop of flowers or young fruits occurs, so much so in some 

 cases as to materially reduce the yield of the trees. 



In the selection of parent trees for propagation on the basis of 

 their performance records, it is necessary to take into account any 



